Zein: The Prophecy Read online

  ‘You’re spooking me, how did you know what I thought?’

  ‘Hear your thoughts, what do you mean?’ Gemma said.

  ‘Hold on, can you hear my thoughts and human thoughts as well?’ Kabel asked astonished.

  ‘Yes-s-s, I think I can,’ Tyson stuttered. He looked round the others. All of a sudden there was an avalanche of thoughts hitting him from everyone.

  Is he mad?

  Can’t believe what is happening.

  Kabel has not spoken to me since last night. Does he still like me?

  All I know is I am hungry. The last thought was from Bailey.

  ‘If you’re hungry go and grab something then,’ he snapped at Bailey as he held his head in his hands. Bailey raised his eyebrows and muttering under his breath about privacy in one’s own head he went into the kitchen to grab some food.

  ‘Take deep breaths, just concentrate on your own thoughts and block out all others’ thoughts. Direct your mind. It will take time but you will need to control it,’ Kabel advised.

  Tyson removed his hands and concentrated. The flow of information subsided.

  ‘That is brilliant. You can hear our thoughts?’ Amelia asked.

  ‘Some of them, yes.’

  ‘The Blackstone Clan magics include the ability to project thoughts and hear other Zein thoughts, but no Blackstone has been able to hear both Zein and human thoughts,’ Kabel explained incredulously.

  ‘Can I remind you that we have just killed two Ilsid and we don’t have much time,’ the Changeling said.

  ‘Look, we only have four tickets for this afternoon and there are five of us,’ Amelia said, reverting back to her original point, slightly put back about Tyson’s new found capability.

  ‘It is just Tyson and I, who need to go,’ Kabel volunteered.

  ‘No chance, where he goes I go,’ Bailey said, returning into the room with a bowl of cereal. Tyson looked up from staring at the floor and smiled at his friend. Bailey never changed.

  ‘Well, if you are going we are going as well aren’t we, Amelia?’ Gemma asked her best friend.

  ‘I don’t know…,’ her friend tailed off but with a stare from Gemma she reluctantly agreed.

  ‘So where do we get another ticket?’ Kabel asked.

  ‘My mum will have one.’ It was very quietly said but unmistakably it came from Tyson. He looked up at the group. ‘My mum has a season ticket which she rarely uses. Now I know why.’ Amelia put her hand on his shoulder. He shook it off. Amelia withdrew her hand, upset by his reaction.

  ‘Let’s freshen up, tidy up the place and pack what we need and go and see Tyson’s mum,’ Gemma said in her usual blunt manner.

  They were going to call a locksmith but Kabel used his magics to mend the broken lock. Bailey watched in amazement as the lock slotted back together and looked as good as new. Within half an hour they were dressed, packed and had locked up the house.

  Bailey looked across at Tyson and saw him immersed in his thoughts. Well, this is going to be interesting. The group headed off to Tyson’s house, which was close by.

  Tyson was struggling with everything that was happening. If Kabel was telling the truth then he had just seen an image of his father.

  Surreal! His mother owed him many answers. They turned into a modest road with semi-detached properties and made their way to a pleasant but relatively small house on a corner plot.

  ‘Mum? Mum where are you?’ Tyson shouted, as soon as he entered the semi-detached house. The rest of the party tumbled in after him, still panicked by recent events and glad to get off the streets.

  There were footsteps on the stairs as his mother answered his call. Leila Mountford was still striking to look at, even in her mid-forties. Slightly above average height, slim, brown shoulder length hair and soft rounded face, but it was her eyes that set her apart. Soft and warm brown eyes sparkled. Leila was a quiet woman, not much ruffled her. It was this calm nature that settled on her son in answer to his strident calls for her attention.

  ‘Hey, what is all the fuss about?’ said Leila, and then catching sight of the group behind her son in the hallway, her eyebrows lifted with surprise and her face turned pale. Her attention settled on the tall imposing figure of Kabel.

  ‘What’s happened?’ Leila asked not taking her eyes of Kabel. He looked back impassively.

  ‘I met my half-brother today,’ said Tyson, his body trembling. Leila let out a long sigh.

  ‘You look so much like your father,’ she said to Kabel. A welcoming smile crossed her face. Leila then stepped up to her son and looked at him with so much love that Tyson forgot all the things he was going to challenge her about.

  How long had she known his father? Why the lies?

  Leila placed her hands on his shoulders and said, ‘I am so sorry that I couldn’t tell you the truth. Your father said it would place you in great danger,’ she said calmly. ‘You must know I wanted to tell you every day and I am so pleased you know now.’ With that she drew him to her and hugged him. He returned the hug and then, conscious of the audience, pulled away from her.

  ‘This is Kabel.’ He introduced his half-brother. Leila held out her hand and Kabel stepped forward and took her hand, bowing.

  ‘Greetings, it is good to meet you.’ There was nervous laughter from the group.

  ‘Hi, guys,’ she waved to the rest of the group. She noticed how quickly the usually spiky Gemma moved to Kabel’s side.

  Very Interesting, I wonder what Tyson feels about that.

  ‘Right, let’s get the kettle on and you can all tell me what has been happening.’

  ‘Kettle?’ Kabel asked enquiringly.

  ‘You can’t have a serious conversation without a cup of tea or coffee in our country,’ said Gemma laughing, slapping Kabel on the back. They all filed into the kitchen.

  Soon everyone was sitting with a hot drink in front of them. A number of the party benefited from the strong coffee as they suffered from the party’s aftereffects. Kabel took Leila through the events in his village; the escape, meeting Tyson, being followed where amongst the many topics. Leila listened in growing alarm and when Kabel described the fight at Gemma’s and Bailey’s house her hand flew to cover her mouth.

  ‘Your father told me there were people who didn’t agree with the mission which brought you all here. He was constantly worried about it. The trips to watch the football were a way he could relax and leave those worries behind,’ she explained. The others listened. They guessed she had been bottling this up for many years. Tyson watched eagerly. He wanted to know more.

  Shall I tell them the whole story? Leila thought.

  Yes. Tyson said. His mother’s eyes widened. Yes, I can read some thoughts. Please, I want to know. His eyes caught his mother’s. Leila looked at her son and then looked down at the floor before facing her son again.

  ‘I met your father on a night out in Manchester. It was hard not to miss him. He was incredibly tall and handsome. The girls in the bar were all attracted to him.’ She paused. Memories flooding back. The group waited. ‘He was watching Manchester United play in the Champions League. We got talking and he was charming. We agreed to go to a match as he had never seen a live football match. We did and it was fun.’ She looked up at Tyson. ‘You have to understand I was lonely, just moved into the area and Logan was like all my wishes had come at once.’

  ‘Mum, I am not upset. It was just a surprise,’ said Tyson reassuringly, he reached across and took his mother’s hand. Leila, comforted by this, continued her story.

  ‘Well, he said he had a job that took him away for weeks at a time and I got used to that. He always seemed to be battling against something. It was only when I found I was pregnant and told him that the full story came out.’ She turned to Kabel, seemingly in two minds.

  ‘Carry on,’ Kabel encouraged.

  ‘Well, he told me who he was, that he was an alien, that due to his position he was under pressure to marry someone from another royal clan to cement political re
lationships.’ She laughed. ‘I was pretty angry with what I thought were lies and just jumped to the conclusion that he was simply avoiding any responsibility for the baby.’ All the girls around the table nodded understandingly. They would have thought the exact same.

  ‘What did he do to convince you he was an alien?’ Amelia asked, enthralled with the story.

  ‘Well, he glowed blue. Made me jump I can tell you,’ she told them.

  ‘Like this,’ Kabel’s hands began to emit the blue force-field and at the same time Tyson’s hands began to glow.

  ‘Oh, my God,’ his mum gasped.

  ‘Yep, picked up some tricks from my old Dad,’ Tyson said, seeing the funny side of the situation. His mum laughed, as did the group. Kabel watched, warmed by the friendship he saw and with a pang of regret that he had left his adopted family. Gemma saw his frown and slipped her hand into his hand and gave it a small squeeze.

  ‘What happened next?’ Gemma asked, hoping the story would take the frown away.

  ‘Well, we talked for ages and in the end it was clear that he had responsibilities. He had met a woman from the Southgate Clan?’ Leila queried.

  ‘Melissa Southgate was my mother. She was killed when I was a baby, along with my sister, or so I thought.’ Kabel then explained his dream and how he thought she was alive. Gemma snuggled in close to comfort him as Kabel’s voice cracked with the emotion.

  ‘Well, I hope you find her,’ Leila said, impressed by the young Zeinonian.

  ‘The story Mum!’ Tyson had been quiet during the story but the interruptions were beginning to irritate him, especially as they were being made by Kabel. His resentment of the Zeinonian was beginning to grow.

  ‘Calm down Tyson, I will tell you everything,’ said Leila, she knew this was a big issue for him but that would not give him licence to talk to her like that. Leila continued with the story, ‘Well, I wanted the baby but understood his situation and I raised you myself, as you know. I had no regrets. You were more than any mother would want in a son,’ Leila said, emotion making her voice break. ‘Your father did see you when you were born but at the same time he said that he had now married and his wife was expecting twins, which I imagine was you, Kabel, and your sister.’ Leila motioned to Kabel. ‘That was the last time I saw him.’ She looked into her tea blankly, remembering. Telling the story had released memories locked away for many years. Amelia went to her and put her arm around her. Leila patted her arm in thanks.

  ‘I don’t want to appear insensitive but the match starts in two hours,’ Bailey reminded the group. Amelia glared at him. ‘Well, someone has to bring this back to the present,’ said Bailey, stubbornly backing up his point.

  ‘Yes, you are right, Bailey.’ Tyson pulled himself from the vision of his father seeing him when he was a baby. ‘Mum, do you have your season ticket?’

  ‘Yes, it is in that drawer over there.’ Leila pointed to the sideboard. Tyson opened the drawer and pulled out the unmistakable red season ticket with the Manchester United emblem embossed upon it. He found and removed the ticket for today’s match and placed the season ticket onto the kitchen table.

  ‘Are you all going?’ Leila asked, not taking her eyes off Tyson.

  ‘Mum, I will be all right,’ Tyson reassured her. His mum’s eyes did not hold much confidence so he gave her a big hug.

  ‘We need to go,’ said Bailey, urgency in his voice. Tyson went upstairs and picked up his rucksack and threw in a torch, spare batteries, matches, waterproofs, change of clothes and dropped his favourite Swiss Army penknife into his jeans front pocket.

  Tyson gave his mum another hug as the group said their goodbyes. Leila watched them leave. As she shut her door she couldn’t help but think something terrible was going to happen.

  Chapter 11

  The Theatre of Dreams

  They made their way to Altrincham tram station. Altrincham, with its tree-lined streets and roads, was situated south of Manchester, one of the principal cities in England. Its affluence was easy to see, with impressive houses and fancy cars. Recently the town had struggled in the shadow of the impressive Trafford Centre out of town shopping mall in nearby Trafford Park and the vibrant regeneration of Manchester city centre.

  Altrincham was, however, buoyed by the even more affluent adjoining villages of Bowdon and Hale, which had warranted a mention in the 1086 Domesday Book, a very old manuscript that records the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 under the orders of William the Conqueror.

  The town is broadly an Anglo-Saxon area, host to very good schools, and it attracted a high proportion of professional and skilled workers. In 1992 the local railway system was augmented by a tram system called the Metrolink. This connected South Manchester, via Altrincham, and North Manchester, via Bury, with Manchester city centre. Since then there had been offshoots to other key business and residential areas. It was here that the group went as the main tram line would take them to Old Trafford where the football ground was situated.

  Bailey led the group to the ticket machines. Even though the start of the football match was still a little over an hour away the crowds were already beginning to swell, with the queues winding along the platform waiting to catch one of the trams. They joined the queue. Kabel asked what they were lining up for and Bailey took him through the wonders of using the Metrolink. As he was talking a tram pulled in and disgorged large numbers of passengers. Kabel watched, stunned. Relying on teleporting he had never seen such a sight. He watched impressed as people crammed into the small carriages and then the doors shut before the tram moved off slowly before gathering speed. They waited patiently. Something was nagging Tyson.

  ‘You said I had the magics. What else should I expect and why haven’t I experienced anything while I was younger?’ he asked. The others listened intently.

  ‘I only started experiencing the magics myself recently. What I know now was that my athletic prowess was a forerunner to the magics.’

  ‘Tyson is good at every sport,’ Amelia said. I should not have said anything, she immediately thought. Tyson heard her comment and hid his surprise.

  Amelia really does like me. That’s a turn up for the book.

  ‘You will be able to run abnormally fast, you can read thoughts as you know, you are telepathic, in battle a force-field protects you and your ability to see attackers movements in slow motion enables you to anticipate their movements,’ Kabel explained.

  ‘Does everyone in the Blackstone Clan have this magic?’ Tyson pressed Kabel.

  ‘No, not to the full extent we have as part of the royal bloodline. Others have some of the physical attributes like athleticism and increased height and elements of the magics.’

  ‘What are the other clans’ skills, I mean magics?’ asked Gemma. A man in front of them partially turned his head frowning, as he heard the last word. Tyson held his hand up and Kabel waited until they had all their tickets. Strangely this was an activity that caused him much excitement.

  They moved to a less busy part of the platform, which continued to fill up with football fans; a mixture of the blue and white of City and the red, black and white of United.

  ‘I can tell you about the other clans later when we are safely in the Core.’ Kabel said to Gemma. She was not happy but accepted that now was not the time.

  Chanting began, which caused Kabel to stop and stare. He of course saw some of the colours differently due to his different filtration of colours. The humans in blue were wearing green in Kabel’s eyes. The humans in red were chanting and the ones in green sought to drown out the chanting by singing a song. Kabel was intrigued. It felt like there was a battle between two tribes going to war, but all were smiling and the atmosphere was one of good nature.

  ‘And what about the Blackstone Clan magics?’ Tyson was impatient for more information. Kabel snapped out of his trance-like state.

  ‘My teacher taught me that people like you and I should be able to call on the full range of clan magic ea
sily; however, infantry or your skilled craftsman have more minor versions,’ he finished as he saw a bright green tram pull in.

  ‘Come on,’ Bailey shouted as he pushed to the front, as the tram’s doors opened and the tram jettisoned its load. They all crowded onto the tram until they were packed in like sardines. Kabel had to bend so not to bump his head on the tram ceiling. He revelled in the experience. Not an emotion that the others felt in the crammed tram, as others tried to push on at other stops; Bailey had enough and pushed back causing a back and forward process that resembled wind rippling across grass.

  After fifteen minutes the tram pulled into the Old Trafford stop next to the newly renovated Lancashire Cricket Ground. The hordes of people spilled out and joined the masses of people all moving in the same direction, like lemmings going over a cliff. Kabel who had never seen so many people in one area took it all in. He enjoyed the camaraderie of the humans. There were men, women and children in this seething mass of humanity.

  Even at the Federation Fair the numbers were five times less than this. The singing and chanting increased as they walked down the wide road. Kabel felt he was on a tidal wave of people with the current carrying them to their final destination.

  The friends had not talked since coming off the tram and Gemma, who was walking next to Kabel, asked, ‘What sports do Zeinonians play?’

  ‘We have races to see who is the fastest and games of strength. For example we have a throwing contest called Cyclone, which involves throwing an empty crystal cylinder.’ He saw the confusion in her face. ‘The cylinder has a grip for your hands and you throw it into a target area. Distance wins you points and as it is hollow you can boost your score if it falls on one of the spikes in the field.’

  ‘Are you any good?’

  ‘Won the last three years’ competitions,’ said Kabel proudly.

  ‘Go boy, go,’ Gemma laughed.

  They crossed a busy road and Kabel saw people in bright tops riding horses. He knew from the pictures of their own communication holograms that these were Earth’s marshals. He had never seen a horse close up and was slightly cautious of being so near.