Haven: Elixir of Life by D. C. Akers

Author:D. C. Akers [Akers, D. C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-07-31T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Sam, Travis, and Demetrius evaporated to the base of a small hill. From the looks of their surroundings, Sam didn’t think they had traveled very far; everything looked the same to him. Other than the hillside, they were still standing in a field of tall crimson grass.

“Did … we go anywhere?” Travis asked. He took a few steps forward and surveyed the area.

“Hey, you’re standing!” Sam said, raising his eyebrows.

Travis looked over at Sam. “Uh, yeah … I can walk too,” he said with a shrug.

“No,” Sam replied, “I mean, you don’t look like you're about to pass out from evaporating.”

“Well, yeah, I got this,” Travis said. He pulled his shoulders back and stuck out his chest.

Sam shook his head. “Right, of course you do. What was I thinking?”

“We’ve actually traveled quite some distance, Travis. The cottage is just over this hill,” Demetrius said as he walked toward it.

“Great,” Travis replied, "I’m starving! Man, I hope you guys don’t have weird food here. I know we’ve probably said goodbye to burgers and fries forever, and probably pizza …” His voice trailed off in thought. “Jeez, I wonder if they even have cheese here. Man, I really didn’t think this through.”

“All I care about is sleep,” Sam said with a yawn. “I’m not sure how much farther I can go. This backpack is killing me.”

“Really?” Travis said as he started to walk, making sure that his over-sized backpack hit Sam in the shoulder. “Man up!”

“Are we ready?” Demetrius called down from the top of the hill.

Travis's smug grin faded as he and Sam looked at one another. “I don’t know, are we?” he asked. Deep down, Travis knew that whatever was over that hill was not going to be easy for Sam, good or bad.

Sam took a moment before answering and adjusted his backpack on his shoulders. “Ready as I’ll ever be,” he said.

Travis smiled and looked up at Demetrius. “Let’s do this,” he said, and together he and Sam began walking up the hill.

Demetrius stood at the top with both hands resting on Hollister's gemstone. With a satisfied look on his face, he took in a deep breath and exhaled.

“Welcome to the Valley of Astrea,” he said once the boys had reached the top.

Sam moved to Demetrius's side, gazed down in to the large open area, and froze.

“Demetrius,” he gasped. “It’s …” but his mouth fell slack. He wasn’t sure if there was a word for how the valley looked.

The view was mesmerizing. Tall blades of lavender grass swayed beneath towering trees the size of giant sequoias. Multicolored birds soared in the distant sky like a moving rainbow over the mountainous highlands. It was all so wonderfully vivid and peaceful that Sam felt as if he had stepped into the most amazing painting ever created.

Demetrius looked down at Sam and beamed, relieved that he approved. After everything the young boy had been through, he hoped Haven would bring him some sort of comfort.

“This. Is. Awesome!” Travis bellowed. "Look at those trees! They’re huge!”

Huge was an understatement, Sam thought.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.