Blog Post #12: Cecily the Sorceress

Continuation of Blog Post #11

"Grandmother?!" Alaina said, "How did you get here? You knew about this place to? Did mother? Did everyone but me?" She was getting frustrated. Next to her Boy was muttering something under his breath. "It can't be, she was a fable. She can't exist." "Oh I assure you dear boy, I exist, I am Alaina's Grandmother." she said " Oh! Beg your pardon madame, it's just I thought for a moment, you looked exactly like..... never mind." Boy stuttered, blushed and looked away. "Exactly like what? Like Cecily?" Her Grandmother said. When she said this Boy's head snapped up sharply. "Yes, you are her aren't you?" he said getting excited. "Oh Alaina we're saved! Cecily is the most powerful mind ever, she can defeat the Burglar King!" "What in the world are you talking about? This is my grandmother, I have no idea who Cecily is!" Alaina said thoroughly confused. "Alaina dear, do not yell at the poor boy. He is right, and so are you." she quickly added at Alaina's astounded look. "You see dear, Although I have never journeyed to the Forest physically, mentally, this is my second home!"

"What do you mean your second home?" Alaina asked " Well, back when I was younger," her Grandmother started "I was at a fair when a old gypsy beckoned me over, she said that I had a young strong mind, and would I like to learn to use it to its full potential? I agreed and she began to teach me. She taught me a bout the Mind Field and about Astral Strands and how to follow them to other places. I grasped each concept with ease and was progressing quickly, too quickly. My teacher said I had great power but it would get out of control, so she set a spell on me to harness my power. The spell was the last thing she did, she was old and it took all of her to complete it. I loved my teacher and grieved her death, but the spell she put on me did not do exactly what she wanted it to do. It allowed me a complete understanding of everything in the Mind Field. So I was all powerful and in no danger of getting out of control. I began to wander the Mind Field a lot in my spare time. Even when I was pregnant with your mother and her brother. My power was passed along to them, but in unequal parts. Your mother got most of the control and limited access to the Mind Field, but your uncle got next to no control and full access to the Mind Field. He went crazy and lost his mind to the Field and one day ran into the forest and never returned. I searched for him in the Mind Field and found him several months later in this kingdom, secretly taking the names of people. I psychically contacted the King and Queen of the realm as Cecily the Sorceress and told them of the danger and how to rid themselves of it. They aprehended your uncle and I banished him to the Mind's Cradle, an inn where he could do no damage. I visited the King and Queen often, and their young prince and taught them simple workings of the Mind Field. Soon when they had learned enough I withdrew and had to tell your mother the news. She was so devastated at losing her brother she made me promise to never enter the Mind Field again. So when years later you were born, I could not see if you had the gift of the Field or not, and I had no idea that your uncle had escaped, until we got the letter with your name on it. For you see in the ancient language of the Forest your name means Hope or Help. Your mother knew what it ment, her brother, or the Burglar King had escaped, but still forbade me to help. So I allowed you to take the sand and see if you could save them yourself, for you see, you are the most powerful mind of all, you just need to realize what makes you powerful."

"But Grandmother, you've beaten him before, why can't you now?" Alaina asked "The Mind Field has rules and I cannot interfere for I have already used these Astral strands to much, you must do this alone, but it is not impossible, you must find what makes you strong!" and with that she faded away and they were left alone again.

Blog Post #11: Battle Plans

Continuation of Blog Post# 10

"Alright, we will deal with that later" said Alaina standing up "Right now we need to free all of Boy's people. Father, will you help us?" she said looking down at her father, who still sat on the ground "I will tell you what I know, but if I were to fight in my own mind, I would not make it." He said looking defeated. "The Burglar King's mind is set up like a castle, with the best defenses I've ever encountered. The names are kept in the throne room as piles of treasure and gold. You will be able to see the reflection of the trapped person in the shiny surface, instead of your own. To release them, you must either, make the Burglar King release his hold on them, this is a highly unlikely outcome my dear." " You mean to say, we cannot reason with him?" She said dismayed. " You have seen his mind, it is not one you can reason with." He responded gravely " Then what must we do?" Boy asked " You must take his very existence and bind it and throw it into the Mind Field, and make sure he has no control when you do, or he will be able to grab a cord and find his way back. But if he is bound correctly then he will float forever in the Mind Field. Then you must take each of the names out of his mind and they will automatically return to their bodies. This is all I can give you, you must figure out the rest for yourself, good luck my dear." And with that he faded and was no more.

Alaina stood staring at the spot where her father had been not just moments before for what seemed like eternity. Finally she turned towards Boy, who was watching her. "Are you all right?" He asked her. "Well, lets see. I've found out my father isn't dead, that he is a spineless fish and is trapped in his own mind, and I must save him and a whole population by defeating one of the most sick and powerful minds in the known, and apparently unknown worlds!! Oh yes, I'm quite all right." she said letting out all of her pent up frustration. "But you do not have to do it alone. I will help you Alaina, whether you want my help or not!" He said and the way he looked at her reminded her of how they had come to this white place. She blushed and looked away. Boy grabbed her face and turned her to face him. "Don't you turn away from me! You have no idea what you mean to me, and I hate seeing you so sad, I just want to keep you safe and you won't let me and it's so frustrating!! Alaina, I love you!" Alaina stared into his face in shock, then leaned forward and kissed him again. "Oh! Your first kiss!!" a voice said. Alaina broke away to see her Grandmother standing behind Boy.

Blog Post #10: The Burglar King

Continuation of Blog Post #10

"Quite right you are Boy." Her father replied "I was one of those who were in the special circumstances to enter the Forest. When I found out where I was I was so over come with grief that I would have to wait over a month and by that time every one would assume I was dead and if I were to "come back from the dead" it would be seen as some sort of sorcery, and I would be killed. I found an inn called the Mind's Cradle" At this Boy drew a sharp intake of breath. "You went in didn't you?" he said "Yes, I had no idea the horrible history of the place. I went in and spent the night there. The next day I was approached by an old man who went by the name of Poshtër. He said that he knew the deep depression I was going through and he knew how to help me. He told me to just let him into my mind and he could ease the pain and help me find a new life. Alaina you must understand how hopeless I felt" He said in response to her look of repusion, as she knew first hand how it felt to have your mind violated. "I let him in and he completely took over, I could do nothing about it, as I had not ever encountered this before. At first I tried to fight him, but after counless mental beatings I was close to losing my sainity. So, I retreated to this little part and he has left me alone and I've grown stronger so now he could not even get in here if he wanted to."

"Father, do you have any idea what has happend? What he's done while in your body?" Alaina said to her father. "Boy's kingdom is all in the freak of a mind that this Poshtër has, all of their names. Do you know what thats like? I do! I have been on both ends of the spectrum! I have almost taken a name, and I've been seconds away from having my own tore from me! And you just sit here in the back of your OWN mind! You could have stopped this a long time ago, and come home!!" Alaina breathed heavey all of her angry words spent and leaned into Boy's shoulder, but Boy was looking at her astonished "What?" she asked "You ventured out on to the Mind Field? It took me years to go beyond the connection you and I have!" "How else did you think I got out of the cell?" She asked him "I guess I never really thought about it till now, Wait the Burglar King was taking your name and you're still here?" "Yes, something distracted him then I followed his cord to his mind and his body. Well, I guess it's your body." She said looking at her dad. "Thats impossible!" Her father said, "Much more powerful minds have not even phased him, Who could distract him?" "Or what could distract him?" Added Boy added. They all pondered the fact that the Burglar King may not be the biggest of their problems.

Blog Post #9: Alaina's Father

Continuation of Blog Post #8

Alaina woke up looking into Boy's concerned face. "Oh!" she groaned. Her head hurt something fierce. "What in the world happened?" she asked "You don't remember?" He said looking concerned, and maybe a little relieved, "No, wait," she was starting to remember what had knocked her out, "did you, um, kiss me?" Boy blushed and didn't say anything as he helped her up. She looked around her, and saw, nothing. At all. There was just a large expanse of endless white. "Where are we Boy?" She said turning to him. "I-I have no idea." he answered her with a look of fear. She started to wander around, looking for something, she had no idea what. After what seemed for eternity she came upon a figure sitting on the ground in the distance. "Boy! Do you see him too?" she said excited "Yes!" he said. Alaina ran forward, and as she grew near to her goal she began to recognize him.

Alaina stopped abruptly. "No, no, no, no." she murmured under her breath. "It can't be possible!" Boy stopped along side her "Alaina, are you all right?" he asked her. When boy said her name the figure stiffened and turned around. Her suspicions were confirmed as she saw the face of her father once more. "Alaina?" his voice came out hoarse "It can't be, I must be hallucinating again" he turned away. Alaina broke from Boy with a cry and ran to her father. "Daddy! Daddy! Its me!" she screamed as she threw herself into his arms. He hugged her and spun her around and around "I never thought I would see you again!" He said crying into her shoulder. "Oh Daddy! What happened? Where are we? Why did you never come home?" she said, and realized that she was crying now too. Her father put her down and said "How did you get here?" he asked, and then laughed "It seems as though we have a lot of catching up to do!"

When Alaina had introduced her father to Boy, they all sat down in a circle to hear her father's tale. "To answer your first question, we are in my mind. Yes, my mind, also the mind of the one called the Burglar King. You see, we are one and the same in a way, he is in my body and I am a fugitive in my own head!" He stopped seeing the completely lost looks on Alaina and Boy's faces. "Goodness, I am no good at telling stories, I guess I should start at the beginning."

"As you know I was away at war. My commanding officer needed a scout to go ahead of the bulk of the army and chart the best way through the forest that we would need to go through. I volunteered. I was given a horse and provisions and set out that night around midnight, but it was a new moon. I'm sure you know what that means Boy" her father said looking pointedly at him. Alaina sat confused, Boy seeing her look explained. "You can only enter or exit my realm, the realm of the Forest, at midnight on a new moon, or on a solstice. Many a traveler has wandered into the realm, and the realm is connected to all great forests of the earth so we acquire many different people. Your father must be one of them!"

Blog Post #8:Still The Same Story

Continuation of Blog Post #7

Alaina/James walked over to her door and reached for his keys. "Hey, James!" the other guard yelled "What in the world are you doing?" Alaina got nervous and had James collapse into unconsciousness. She then followed the cord to the other man, she was ready this time and slid unhampered into his mind. She had him reach down and take the keys from James and unlock her door. She had him lay down then he was unconscious too. Alaina pushed open her door and walked down the damp hallway. She came to a stair case leading up. Up was probably the best option so she started walking. Suddenly there was a voice in her head. Alaina! Are yo- The voice suddenly cut off as she threw up blocks over her mind thread. But wait, she knew that voice! Boy is that you? she slowly let down her walls Oh, Alaina, you scared me! You have been learning haven't you? He sounded scared Alaina I have to go but what ever you do, don't ever go to far, you know what I mean. And then he was gone.

His last words sent chills through her. She had already scared herself with how easily she could impose her will over others, it was not natural, but she knew that she must save every one then she would never use it again. ever. She reached the top of the stairs and fell to her knees. She grabbed her head. There was someone in there! He was snooping around sifting through her very essence the Burglar King! So that is how you steal names! You take the person's very being, but where would you put it? Alaina futilely put up walls around her mind that the Burglar King tore down mercilessly. She screamed in pain as he started to rip her essence from her mind. Fight! Fight Alaina! A voice screamed in her mind and stalled the Burglar King for a moment. In that moment Alaina launched her own attack on her assaulter. She raced along the thread to his mind, imagining calvary and footmen racing into his mind. While back in her body she followed where her mind told her the physical body of the king was. She burst into the throne room just as she reached his mind, and then she was lost.

Alaina tumbled through his chaos of a mind. It was a fractured, sick and tortured thing. The weight of all the people completely crushing his mind except the hunger for more. Alaina could feel herself losing herself, she was being dissolved in the mix of madness. She felt a hand grab hers and looked to see the Boy of the Forest. "Boy what are you doing here?!" Alaina yelled. Now they would both be lost! "I can help you!" He said, "Let me try!" "No! You are one of the last people alive that I care a bout! I can not lose you!" She screamed and pushed him away from her, back to his own mind. But he fought her and came right back. "You think I don't care about you to? I have been alone all these years, except for you! I can not lose you!" He then pushed her back to her mind. She fought back and pushed him, and he pushed back. They sat there suspended by their strength and their passion. Then at the same moment the both let go and came together and Boy pushed his lips to Alaina's and the world went white.

Blog Post #7: Second to Last Chapter, I hope!

Continuation of Blog Post #6

As soon as the door was closed she was thrust into gloominess again. The heat behind her eyes gave her warning of the betrayal that her eyes were about to commit, and soon enough her eyes brimmed and tears made their trek across her face. Stop it! She told her self, He needs your help! She remembered the stories that her Grandmother told her when she was young and all was right with the world, "You will do great things one day," her Grandmother had told her "Just remember it's you who decides to give up or figure out how to solve the problem" With her Grandmother's words anew in her mind she looked around the cell with courage. Its gloom would not drag her down now. She sat and thought of her next move, her objective was to, primarily, get the Boy of the Forest free and get his name back. Maybe she could get his people's names back too! Oh, she could be the heroine of this story! Then her spirits fell. What did she have to use? All of the heroes in the stories had some kind of special power or help of some kind! But wait, she did have a special power! She had a mind link with the Boy of the Forest, and although she couldn't seem to reach him now there had to be another way to use this gift!

Alaina closed her eyes and concentrated on the part of her mind that she used to communicate with the Boy of the Forest. She could feel something there, almost like a thread, she followed it and she came upon millions of other threads, their numbers were overwhelming! It took her a moment to realize that they were links to other peoples minds! She could see them! And some how she knew that she could follow them into the minds of others. Suddenly she drew back into her own consciousness. The thought of entering another's mind repulsed and scared her. Who was she to invade upon someones most private and intimate space? Come now Alaina! She said to herself, How else to you expect to get out of here, and save the Boy of the Forest? She realized she had no other choice and ventured out of her mind again. Alaina followed the threads that she realized were the guards' minds out side her door. She paused at the threshold, not fully committed, took a deep breath and entered the mind of her first guard.

The information was overwhelming! His name was James Pats, he didn't want to be a guard for the burglar, but was terrified of having his name stolen. Thousands of thoughts filled Alaina's head. James's past, his family, all of the Pats' names had been stolen, his likes, his dislikes, his fears, his joys. All of it, crashing on to her so that she felt that she was drowning! She was losing herself, she could feel it. She tried to imagine a solid rock wall at least a meter thick blocking all of the information, and it stopped. She was free of the constant torrent of thoughts! She could now hear his present thoughts and was relieved to find that he had no idea that she was there. Now, to get herself free!

Blog Post #6: 4th Word

Continuation of Blog Post #5

"Why are we locked in your dungeon?" Alaina asked him. "Well, its quite a long story," he said. "I've really got no where else to go." She answered. "Alright, it all started with the thief. When I was just a small child he would come in the night and would steal things, you must understand in my kingdom no one steals we are a very peaceful race so it was quite alarming that some one would steal from the royal family." "What did he steal?" Alaina asked " Quite a number of things, jewels, the crown, silverware. But steadily he would grow more confidante when he realized that we had no way of catching him. He began to steal more valuable things. Light, magic, and the most horrid of all, names." He said gravely.

"Names! How is it possible to steal a person's name? And what harm would it do?" She asked gasping in horror. "It is no easy feat to steal a person's name, but he was a seasoned burglar. You see, a person's name is who they are, if you were to steal it slowly that person would fade, for without a name, you are quite easily forgotten by others, and soon you forget your self and become nothing more than a shell with no name that is easily controlled by the burglar. The burglar would come at night and steal the name of those who were sleeping. At first it was just servants and lower class that lived in the castle, then soon he worked his way up the hierarchy and stole the names of all of the royal family. Including my own." He said looking sad as he remember all of his friend and family. Alaina was confused, "If he took your name, then why aren't you a nameless shell?" "Because I got a new name, the Boy of the Forest." He said smiling at her. "You mean, I gave you your new name?" She said in amazement. "Yes, my parents, once they realized what had happened sent out the communication sand. I was saved because you did not know my name yet you did not forget me, you called my by a new name. When I first contacted you I had almost given in to the Burglar King's power, but you saved my life, and now I plan to save yours."

Alaina was about to ask him how, when she heard heavy foot steps coming down the hall. "I fear we have run out of time, I must tell you something before we are split up. The sand that you received was only a introductory connection to set up mental link, I kept using it to not scare you as you come from an almost magic-less world, but now, I can talk to you from where ever and you may talk to me. Alaina jumped, she had heard him speak the last part, but his lips had not continued to move. Think of me and imagine sending a letter to me, but with your mind, I will sense you and will try to answer if I am able. She heard his voice again, but again his lips did not move. Just as she was about to try to communicate back to him in his absurd way, the door to the cell was thrust open and a light cast on to the two of them. The large man who had knocked her down at the edge of the forest loomed over them. He tore the Boy of the Forest away from her, and shacked his wrists behind his back. "No! Stop!" She yelled. Alaina, it is all right. She heard his calming voice in her head. I will be with you. She looked at him and finally sent him back her own message as he was yanked out the door. I trust you. And then the door slammed shut and she was left alone.