Jolan's Path - Chapter 65

The following story is fictional and is intended for an adult audience. It is not meant to suggest anything about the sexuality of Justin Timberlake or any other celebrities included in this story. This story is fiction, meaning not real. It's all for fun. If you are under age, it is illegal in your country, or you don't like stories about gay sex, please stop reading this now.

Chapter 65

Jolan remained standing, staring at Shelly.

"You've known me all my life, haven't you?"

The woman stared at Jolan, Jolan sensing a familiar love in her staring eyes.

"Not all your life, Jolan. Only since you were seven. And sweet Jennica was a small baby. That was the first time your parents came to me."

Cindy looked stunned, as did everyone else in the room.

"What do you mean, Mom? I don't remember Jolan at all."

The woman smiled, looking towards her daughter.

"Yes, I know that my child. Magic has a way of erasing our lives."

"Who are you, Shelly? The first day I met you I sensed something in you?"
She smiled at Jolan's words, looking into his grey eyes.

"What did you sense, Jolan?"

Jolan's grey eyes stared at her.

"I sensed knowledge. A great mind of educated reasoning. That there was more than just a waitress behind your green eyes."
She smiled, looking towards Simus.

"Your nephew has a shrewd mind, Simus. So like his father Joel."

Simus smiled, looking at the woman.

"Thank you, Divinity."

Shelly smiled, looking at the Dragos brothers.

Simus' eyes were quietly looking at her, Calen's eyes were wide with wonder.

"Do not seem so surprised, Calen, youngest child of the Sainted One."

"You knew my father?" Calen said, staring at her with awed wonder.

"No, Calen. I am only mortal, of the age of fifty-nine years. Your father died well before I was born."

Calen stood up, still taking in her face.

"That name Divinity is only applied to one person. One person of renowned truth and respect."

"Yes, Calen. The title of respect given to my sacred ancestor. Whom I am proud to be descended from. For I am blessed to be the twenty seventh Oracle."
 

Jolan stared at Shelly, her eyes taking in his calmness.

"You are the ancestor of Queen Alveena's sacred teacher and prophetic kinsman. The Oracle."

Shelly smiled, amazed at Jolan's calmness.

"Yes, Jolan. I am the descendant of Notaries Sumsare. The holy Oracle of the Sumsarian Dynasty."

Jolan moved, walking up to her, standing in front of her.

"You knew who I was from our first meeting out on that dark road, that night when Henry hit me."

Shelly's eyes were laced with tears now, her hand going forward, lightly touching Jolan's cheek.

"Yes, Jolan. When that accident happened, when we hit you that night, I was thunderstruck to see who it was laying on that cold, dark road. I hadn't seen you for almost a year before that night, the last time I saw your parents."

Jolan's hand went to her shoulder, the woman fighting back more tears.

"After it happened, when you were taken to the hospital, I sought out your parents. I tried calling them, getting no answer. Henry drove me over to Cutter's Bluff, the truth of their disappearance revealed. Your family was gone. Your parents and little Jennica. You were now all alone. I couldn't understand how you had appeared here, so far from home and so alone."
Henry walked up to her, his arm going around her.

"Shelly told me the story of your family, who you were and everything she knew of her kinsmen. We investigated as much as we could, finding no clues to their whereabouts or your own tragedy. It was Shelly who brought you home from that hospital to Oberon Falls. As an act of kindness to your loving parents. I took an oath on my love for her to help you as she herself was willing to do. Both of us would remain by you. We both felt the hurt that we had caused you. Shelly was the only one who might have been able to help you and your parents that night, but I took that help away from you. I am sorry, Jolan."

Jolan's hands went to both of their shoulders.

"As I have said before, neither of you need feel any guilt. Your hitting me that night saved my life. There was a monster following me. You saved me as I saved them."

"I saw the pain of your existence then, Jolan. I decided to do all I could to help you come back. I never gave up hope of your awakening from that darkness." Shelly said, Jolan smiling at her.
Jolan's body turned, staring at Simus, his eyes then turning back to Shelly.

"You were my teacher, weren't you?" Jolan said, looking again at her.

Shelly's eyes widened, a look of surprise on her face.

"You now remember that?"
"No, I just have a feeling of being here before, in this house. A feeling of echoing voices going through my mind." he said, Justin walking up to him and putting his arm around him, Jolan feeling his love.
Henry guided Shelly back to her seat, the woman sitting down beside her daughter, Cindy looking at her.

"Why didn't you tell me, Mom? That you knew Jolan? And of your past with his family?"

"She wanted to, Cynthia. But to do so would break my oath with him." Henry said.
Jolan looked at Henry, Shelly's eyes meeting his.

Jolan's eyes looked upon the doctor, the man staring at him with genuine love.

Jolan sat down again, Justin joining him, sensing a moment of truth about to be shown.

"Tell me what I said, Henry."
Henry looked surprised, staring at the young man.

"How did you. . ."
His grey eyes met his.

"Tell me what I said before the darkness claimed me on that dark road."

Henry looked around the room.

"The night I hit you, Jolan, you were hurt so badly. I saw the damage that I had inflicted upon you. I held you in the darkness, awaiting your passing into the light. On that lonely dark road you and I sat alone. I was waiting for Shelly to return with help, and for you to die. For I felt there was no hope left for you. But in a moment of complete clarity, of complete intelligence, I saw its beginning."

"What's beginning?" Justin said, he words on everyone's mind.

Henry looked at Justin, Jolan quietly looking at him.

"The beginning of Jolan's love."

Four And A Half Years earlier

Henry Chambers sat on the embankment, waiting for Shelly's return with the emergency services.

The young man's body lay at his side.

He stared down into that youthful, beautiful face, seeing no signs of movement, other than a soft intake of breath escaping his slightly opened mouth.

He'd covered him in his car's blanket, the dampness of the winter's night sinking into his own bones.

He knew the coolness of the late winter's night wouldn't help the young man's condition.

"I'm sorry, son. I'm sorry that I wasn't paying attention. That I took my eyes off the road. Oh, God! If I'd only been watching the road instead of my beautiful Shelly! I'm so sorry!"

The doctor's eyes were filled with the tears of regret.
The young man remained still, the doctor checking his vital signs.

His pulse was slow, barely registering.

"It won't be long, child. The coolness may lull you even more quickly into our Lord's house. You are in His hands now."
Henry raised his head, looking into the clear starlit night.

"Take him if you must. But surround him in love and kindness, Lord. I feel he needs it so much. Take him into thy loving embrace."

Henry lowered his head, the tears flowing from his tearing eyes.
"I'm not quite ready to go yet, sir."
Henry froze, his head moving to the young man's comatose form.

The young man remained as he was, not moving.

Henry's eyes then moved around, a gasp catching in his throat.

Standing not ten feet away from him was the same young man.

Henry's eyes moved back and forth between the standing man and the man laying beside him.

They were identical in almost every way.

They both wore the same ripped shorts, their bodies identical but different in one way.

The man standing across from him showed no signs of physical trauma.

"Who. . .what are you?"
The young man stared at him, Henry seeing the soft glow of his grey eyes.

"I am he, and I am me."

Henry rose to his feet, the man remaining still.

He looked down at the young man, seeing no movement, the stillness showing more.

"You are his soul. He is gone then."
"No, dear friend. I am not gone. I am only lost. Lost unto myself."
"Dear friend? How can you call me that? It is I that has done this to you. I'm so sorry!" Henry said, lowering his head again, not wanting to look into those grey judging eyes.

He still couldn't grasp onto the fact that he might be talking to the young man's soul.

"No, Henry. You did what needed to be done. You saved me from what followed me. I felt it watching, back in the darkness. It could not show itself, or its crime would be revealed. I took that fact as my salvation."

The standing young man looked around, searching the darkness surrounding them.

The full moon came out from behind some clouds, the area bathed in a softer light.

"I feel my darkness approaching, soon I shall be lost. I need your help, Henry."
The older man nodded, his eyes staring at the young man.

"I am going to be lost, lost within myself. I have to be. I have to remain hidden. Give me your oath that you shall not speak of this night, of who I am, save only to her."

Henry looked at the man in surprise, seeing a face of immense beauty and love.

"I. . .I promise."
The young man softly smiled, looking down at himself.

He walked over to his comatose body, kneeling beside it.

"For them, I shall continue the fight one day. Atonement for what I've done."

Henry found confusion in those words, the young man's grey eyes staring up at him.

"Thank you for loving her."

Henry stared in silence, watching the kneeling man begin to fade, his body merging with the comatose man.

Henry stood alone again, only the comatose young man laying before him.

Jolan's eyes met Henry's, everyone looking at the older man.

"And so I kept your oath, Jolan Dragos. I let you become lost. Lost to the world, and lost within yourself."

Jolan smiled softly at the man, Henry's head lowering.

"Thank you, Dr. Chambers. Thank you for letting me initiate my salvation in my final moments of trembling clarity."

Justin looked surprised, staring at Jolan.

"Your salvation, Jo?" he said, Jolan looking around the room at all his friends.

"Yes, Justin. I used the gift on myself."
"The gift?"
Jolan looked towards Shelly, the woman staring at him in amazement.

"Why did my parents bring me to you, Shelly?"

Shelly sighed, standing up and looking towards Jolan.

She looked back at her daughter, Cindy looking up at her.

"I am the Oracle. Although, at this late a date in the future I have only a miniscule amount of the magic my forefather held. But I have the wisdom of his teachings. They were taught to me by my grandmother and my mother, as I one day hope to teach you, Cynthia, if you are so inclined to want."
Cindy stood up, walking to her mother's side.

"Jolan and I are related?"
"Yes, child. Our lineage drinks from the Sumsarian waters. We are from the same clan."

Jolan smiled at Cindy, her green eyes looking at Jennie, then Jolan.

"That's the best news I've heard today." she said, Jennie smiling widely, getting up and running into Cindy's arms.

"You really are now my sister. My sister of heritage."
Jolan smiled, as did most everyone else, all save Calen.

The man stood, looking at Shelly.

"Why have I not been told of your existence? Why have you remained hidden for so long?"

"You knew of the death of the Oracle at the hands of Dragos Sumsare, Calen. That old, intelligent, giving man was murdered for his magic. Since that day, the children of that man's lineage have remained hidden, watching the Sumsarian and Dragosan dynasties evolve. Your father, Vilos--the Sainted One--fought for the life of the Sumsarian brethren, and then guarded them all through the centuries. He learned of my grandmother's existence, she seeking him out in faith towards the end of his giving life. Your father abided by her request for seclusion. He never told anyone of her existence. We remained hidden from your family, outcasts of necessity. My grandmother and my mother, as I said, taught me the magic, the life and the history of my family. I took up the sacred title when my mother passed into the light. I carry within me the last of the magic of the Oracle."

"If you were hidden, then how did Joelius find you?"

Simus stood, his hand going to his brother's shoulder.

"Joel did not find her, Calen."

Calen's grey eyes met Simus'.

"You found her? The Seeker found her? Why didn't you inform the Council, or at least tell me? I thought we trusted each other, Simus?"
Simus stared at his brother, hearing the hurt in his voice.

"No, Calen. I was oblivious to her existence as all four of us were."
Simus' eyes turned, looking at Jolan.

"It was Jolan who found her."

Everyone in the room was staring at the young man sitting beside Justin.

"That's pretty farfetched, Simus!" Joey said, Lance looking at his lover.

Simus' grey eyes went to the young man, Joey staring back at him.

"Shelly just said she met Jolan when he was seven. How on earth could a seven-year-old boy know of someone's existence far away from him, let alone the fact she was the inherited Oracle of the family?"

Simus sighed, looking towards Shelly.

"There was a very simple reason for that, Joseph. Magic. A magic of unbelievable magnitude. Our young friend here is the most gifted man I have ever encountered. I have read all the diaries, books and writings left by my forefather, and nothing in those books compare to the strength of the magic flowing in this man. As you've been told, Queen Alveena's magic filtered down through the generations, appearing in the daughters of worth through the Sumsarian lineage. Jolan's own mother was gifted, as was her grandmother. No male progeny of Sumsarian birthright--save the Oracle and Dragos Sumsare himself, and his monstrous son Segas--has ever held magic in his soul. And no child--male or female--has been born with true magic. Until now."

Shelly walked over to Jolan, kneeling in front of him, taking his hands in hers.

"On a bright sunlit morning in June, a knock came to my door. I opened it, staring into the greyest eyes I had ever seen. They were yours, Jolan. You stood in front of your mother and father, little Jennica in Melina's arms. I knew in my heart the moment I looked into your young gifted eyes that you were the one prophesized by the Oracle and by Queen Alveena. You were the Cater Din Dragster. For I saw there what I see now. The light of giving love in your grey eyes."
Jolan nodded, looking into her green eyes.

"Tell me what happened. Why I came here."
Shelly smiled, rising again, Justin moving on the couch, making room for her to sit down between them both.

Shelly sat down, Justin's arm going around her, Jolan smiling at her.

"That day, I've always felt in my heart, was the day of my becoming real. The day I took up the true mantle of my forefather's destiny. On that day, I became the Oracle for real. I became your teacher."
Jolan nodded, Shelly looking towards her daughter.

"Cindy, you asked earlier why you didn't remember Jolan from your childhood. There was a good reason for that. That was Jolan's gift. The gift of his magic. He and you were dearest friends from the beginning, the two of you so close. But that child had the mind of an intelligent soul. He saw the upcoming danger to himself and all those surrounding him. So, the last day that he graced my doorstep before his accident he unleashed a spell of enchantment upon you. He covered your memories from knowing him."
Cindy looked towards Jolan, the young man looking at her.

"His loving soul sought to protect you in forgetfulness. No one could make you divulge that which you knew nothing of."

Cindy smiled at Jolan, seeing the love behind what he'd done.

"You did the same thing to Jennie, didn't you?" Justin said, looking at his lover.

Jolan and Jennie's eyes met, Shelly's hand rubbing his knee.

"I think Justin's right, Jolan. For whatever reason that night, you erased Jennica's memories of you and her life. I believe it was a failsafe, a way for you to protect those you couldn't save."

Jolan nodded, his head lowering, not looking at Jennie.

In his mind, he heard the words of her private love.

A tear ran down his cheek.

"Go on, Shelly." he quietly said, Justin looking at him.

Shelly looked at him, her voice opening to a day in the distant past.

The day of her opening life.

Fourteen Years Earlier

Shelly Caruthers sighed, wiping her hands on the apron she wore around her waist.

The oven was filled, her baking done.

She lifted the remnants of her coffee cup to her lips, the liquid now tepid.

She puckered at its cool bitterness, dumping the remains down the kitchen sink.

She looked out the kitchen window, watching a bird flying towards the same window.

It landed on the window sill, looking up at her.

"A harbinger of news, little starling? Or a portent of life?"

The bird chirped, its shrill voice heard through the glass.

Shelly smiled, the bird taking flight again.

Immediately, Shelly heard a solid knock upon her front door.

She sighed, looking towards the living room as she passed its door.

Little Cynthia was playing on the floor, a coloring book in front of her.

"Who that, Mommy?" she said, her green eyes looking up at her mother.

"Probably Mrs. Needham, sweetie." she smiled, the little girl returning to her book.

Shelly walked to the front door, opening it wide.

The first thing she was met with was a pair of staring, grey, mesmerizing eyes.

They were attached to a small child, the child staring directly at her.

Shelly froze, lost in the magnitude of the life she felt flowing from those eyes.

"Mrs. Caruthers?" a soft feminine voice said, Shelly breaking her eye contact with the child.

She stared into a youthful face of tremendous beauty.

And standing beside that woman was a man whose looks took Shelly's breath away.

He was a vision of intoxicating male beauty.

More handsome than any man Shelly had ever met, including her own handsome husband.

His eyes were of the same shade as the young boy's, Shelly easily accepting the child was his.

Their beauty mirrored each other.

"Yes, I'm Shelly Caruthers. How may I help you?"

The man and woman looked at each other, Shelly looking now at the small child in the young woman's arms.

She, too, was a vision of remarkable beauty.

Long curls of jet black hair, similar to her brother and father's, covered her head, the same intense grey eyes looking up at the older woman.

"We need your help, Mrs. Caruthers. My name is Joel Dragos." the man said.

Shelly's feet almost gave out on her, staring at a man she'd always thought was legend.

The man's hand went out, his arm going around her to steady her.

"Dragos. . . it. . .it cannot be!!"

The two adults traded looks again, the young boy's hand going forward.

"Hi, I'm Jolan." he said, his voice calm and very focused.

The woman looked down at him, gently taking his small hand, his soft grey eyes staring into her soul.

"You must teach me, please?"

Shelly was taken aback by the boy's simplicity and directness.

"Teach you? Teach you what, my child?"

His grey eyes seemed to widen and glow.

"Teach me about my magic, Oracle."
Shelly Caruthers fainted into darkness.

Shelly felt someone's hands gently tapping her face.

She opened her eyes, staring into two blue eyes of love.

"Thank God, madam. I was so worried it was more than just a faint." she said, her voice laced with caring.

"I'm. . .I'm alright. Where's my Cindy?"

Shelly's eyes looked around her living room, falling upon her daughter, sitting on a couch, the young Jolan sitting beside her.

The two were laughing together, coloring the same picture together.

"He's been watching out for her since you fainted. He said she needed to remain calm."
Shelly nodded, looking at the small boy.

"How. . .how did he know I am called in secret the Oracle? What's going on here?"
Melina Dragos smiled, looking at her husband who sat in a wing chair at the end of the couch.

"We were hoping you might shed some light on that, dear woman." he said, his voice calm and loving.

"I've never met either of you, or you children." Shelly said, seeing the little girl now asleep on another couch, snuggled in blankets.

"We know that, Mrs. Caruthers. And my husband nor his brothers know anything of your existence. Our son told us that he had to come here. That he needed the Oracle's help."

Joel Dragos moved, his body leaning forward, the two women looking at him.

"Somehow my son knew that the Oracle--the blessed magician of the Sumsarian dynasty--was still in existence. You are the offspring of the Oracle, a child of his lineage?"
Shelly nodded, looking at the boy again.

"But this is so impossible. The only traits of magic or mysticism in the Sumsarian dynasty are in the women. Your son can't possibly have magic within him. Unless there is magic in the Dragos blood."

Melina looked at Joel, her husband nodding.

"My name was Melina Sumsare. I am a descendant of Bolos Sumsare, the last general of Queen Alveena's service."
The woman's eyes widened, looking at Joel then back at Melina.

"A Sumsarian and a Dragosan have joined, and they have created offspring?" she said, the words shocking her own self.

"Yes, yes. It has happened. Why must you dwell on that?" Joel said, a soft anger in his voice.

Melina reached out her hand, touching his arm.

The anger disappeared in his eyes, replaced by his love for this woman.

"I'm sorry. It's a rather touchy subject with me. It was part of the reason I left my family."
Shelly looked at the young man, then her eyes went to Jolan.

The small boy was watching them, his arm around Cindy.

"Your son, and your daughter, they are dually gifted. The magic of Alveena and the magic of the Draught of Life. For that Draught courses through your veins, Dragosan. That was always the fear of Alveena. That the Draught would enter the Sumsarian lineage. The uncertainty of its power, of its magic is too unnerving to suggest. Do you know what you've done?"

Melina looked at her husband, his hand going in hers.

"We fell in love. And both of us found the love we always searched for. Neither of us regret a single day of our lives since we walked away from our family. It has been almost ten years of happiness." Melina said, Joel smiling at her.

Shelly saw in both their eyes the depth of their love for each other.

And then their gazes fell up the two small children across the room from them.

"Jolan's magic is unfathomable, Oracle. Never in my life have I felt the simmering magic that lays in his soul. How he controls it I know not. But surrounding that magic is a child of total joy and happiness. He and his sister are the two most loving children I have ever known. And I'm not just saying that because they're mine. You just have to be with them to feel their love."
Shelly smiled at the loving woman, looking back towards the couch, Jolan now standing in front of her.

She moved back a little, surprised at the boy's quickness.

"Do not fear me, Shelly. Are you okay?" he said, with a soft endearing smile.

Shelly smiled, sitting up a bit, Melina looking at her with concern.

"I'm alright, everyone. It was just such a surprise meeting you. It's like a fairy tale from my childhood coming true."
The young boy smiled, sitting down beside her.

"My magic is strong. It tests me at times. Can you help me?"
Shelly looked into the boy's grey eyes, seeing the calmness still staring back.

"You don't seem frightened, Jolan."

"I'm not terrified, just worried. I think I'm supposed to be doing something. I keep having dreams."
"What kind of dreams, sweetie?" Shelly said, Melina smiling at her gentleness with the boy.

"I dream of a mountain."
Shelly's eyes met Joel's, this revelation new to him as well.

"A big mountain?"
"Yes Father, very big. It's the rooftop of heaven."
Joel's face went white with surprise, as did Shelly's.

"Jolan, where did you hear that name?"
"In the dream.  The woman called it that. She told me not to be scared, that I would find happiness on this mountain. But before doing that, I must walk the path. She told me the path starts at your door, Oracle."

Shelly and Jolan's parents exchanged looks, all looking at Jolan.

"What was the woman's name, Jolan?"

Jolan smiled, looking up at his mother.

"She said her name was Alveena, but that I could call her Queenlier."

Jolan's eyes met Shelly's, the woman staring at the young man sitting with her and Justin.

"So I had dreams of Queen Alveena? Even at that early age I was showing all the signs?"

Shelly nodded, patting his shoulder.

"Your parents were deeply concerned by your magic, Jolan. As I was, too, once I got to know you better. And we did get to know each other very well." she smiled, Jolan smiling back.

"I wish I could remember."
"Yes, so do I, Jolan. But you've weaved a magic trail that only you can untangle. I've thought long and hard on this for years, ever since that night on that dark road, when you slipped into oblivion. I sense in my heart it was no accident, Jolan."
Jolan looked surprised, Shelly looking towards Henry.

"I never told you, Henry. That night, when we drove around that curve, my eyes were looking ahead. You weren't standing in the middle of the road, Jolan. You ran right out in front of us. And there was a smile on your face."

Jolan looked totally stunned, Justin staring at him as well.

"I think you deliberately walked out onto that road, Jolan."

"You mean I tried to kill myself?" he said, a slight tremble going through him.

Shelly's arm wrapped around him, kissing his cheek.

"No, Jolan. I don't mean that at all. What I mean is, that for you that night, it was the only way out. You were trapped in a strenuous, horrific situation. And knowing you, that devious, intelligent mind came up with the only feasible answer. You took yourself out of the picture. To protect yourself and those you loved."
Jolan's head lowered, everyone in the room looking at Shelly.

"That night there was magic surrounding you, Jolan. Your eyes in those headlights were glowing."

The room was in silence, absorbing all they'd learned.

Jolan's head raised, looking at Shelly, then at Justin.

"I cannot change the past, or what I've done. I now have to face the future."

Shelly smiled.

"You said those same words to me the last time I saw you before your accident."
Jolan smiled, patting her knee.

"You became my teacher?"
Shelly laughed, patting his shoulder.

"I think it became the other way around. For almost ten years I showed you the ways of the Oracle. The ways of the enlightening magic. You showed me the greatness of your magic. I quickly saw that you controlled it easily. There never was any reason to fear what you commanded. It far surpassed mine quickly."
Jolan smiled, kissing her cheek.

"A student is only as good as his teacher."
Shelly smiled, sighing softly.

"You were then and still are a consummate flirt."

Jolan laughed, Shelly laughing as well.

Justin smiled, sensing Jolan was calmed again.

"Thank you, Shelly. For being with me all those years."
She smiled, kissing his cheek.

"Thank you for lighting the light of life in my soul. Your love changed me for the better. My family loved you then, and loves you now."
Jolan smiled, kissing her cheek, looking towards Cindy.

"My family and friends are returning to me. My past is revealing itself. The next part is the core of it. Cutter's Bluff."

Jolan looked towards his uncle, Simus staring at him.

"So why did you come here, Uncle? How did you learn where my parents were?"
Simus looked at his brother.

"That was your mother's doing, Jolan. Melina sought me out."

"Melina? What do you mean she sought you out?" Domo said, looking at the Dragosan brothers.

"Without our brother's knowledge she used the Heart of History. She found me on our connected path."

Calen's eyes widened, looking into his brother's calm eyes.

"That is impossible, Simus! Only a Dragosan can feel out another on that connecting path!"

"I didn't say she used the ring herself, Calen. She was intelligent. She put the ring on Jolan."
Jolan's eyes met his uncles, the two looking at him.

He saw shock in Calen's eyes, and concern in Simus'.

"Melina used Jolan to connect with me on the Dragosan path. She--through him--informed me of their whereabouts and she asked me to come quickly. For she was terrified."
"Terrified? What was terrifying her?" Joey said, Lance now surrounded by him.

Simus' eyes met Jolan's.

"She was terrified for her husband and her children. Melina told me that they had uncovered a great evil."

Jolan stood up, walking over to his uncle, Simus standing up.

"What did my father find?"
Simus' hand went to his shoulder, looking into his nephew's eyes.

"My brother Joel had found the Angoras. They'd moved to America sometime in the early twentieth century, spawning new evil and pain before them.  Joel had found evil's lair."
"Cutter's Bluff?"

"I now believe that is so, Jolan. There's something you need to know, Jolan."
"It is alright, Uncles. You need not tell me something I've already pieced out in my mind."
Simus looked at Jolan, seeing a dawning light in his grey eyes.

"My father never left his family over a choice of love or family. He left for a totally different reason."

Simus' head lowered, Jolan looked at Calen.

"It was not my father that your brother Morgan brought before the Council, was it?"

Calen stared at his nephew, his heart filled with love for him.

"No, Jolan. It was your mother."

Everyone looked surprised, Jolan looking between the two men.

"Why?"

Simus' head raised, looking into Jolan's eyes.

"Morgan made a claim against her soul. He branded her a witch, and a child of Angoras."

Justin walked up to Jolan, putting his arm around him.

"That's a lie, Uncles."
"Your father said the same, Jolan. As did I and Calen. Your mother was no more a Angoras than I am."
Jolan nodded, accepting his uncles' belief in his mother's truth.

"Morgan learned of her having a daughter out of marriage, Jolan. He fabricated a story of she being raped by Angoras. Their evil seeping into Melina."
Jolan nodded, the truth of that reality already known.

"He wasn't quite correct, Uncles. It was Fagin himself who attacked her."
"Yes, Jolan. And you can be thankful Morgan didn't know that fact back then. The One Council ordered your mother and Daphne both to be tested for magic and evil within them. They both became victims of my older brother's scheme for power. It was then that Joel acted. He didn't walk away from the Council for his own sake, he did it for the love he had for your mother."
Jolan looked into Calen's eyes, seeing his love shining for her as well.

"He and Melina fled before any testing could be done. He didn't choose exile, Jolan. It was thrust upon him. Your Uncle Morgan proclaimed his own brother a fugitive as well as your mother. That charge has never been dropped. To the eyes of the Sumsarian clan and the One Council, your parents are fugitives."
Jolan stared at his uncles, Justin's arm going around him more, Jolan feeling his giving love.

"Your father removed the Heart of History from his finger, becoming invisible to his own brothers. He and your mother walked away from Calen and me. They walked away from our love. We so wanted to help them."
Jolan's arms pulled Simus to him, the young man hugging his uncle, Calen's hand going to his brother's shoulder.

"So you were summoned to America years later by my mother?"
Simus wiped his eyes, looking into Jolan's.

"Yes, she used you and the ring to summon me. I was so shocked that day to find you summoning me, my unknown nephew of love. I went alone, understanding the need for caution. My love for them never faltered. I came here to help them in any way I could."
"And what did you find when you got here?" Josh said, Chace sitting beside him, the two close.

"I found my brother as loving and giving as he'd always been. And your mother was as radiant a beam of sunshine as she ever was. And I found you and this small bundle of happiness, my niece Jennica."
Jennica smiled at her uncle, Jolan smiling at her.

"The years brought no change to my soul, Jolan. I still believed in the truth of my brother and his wife's innocence. There was no evil in any of you. The four of you were a family created in love. And I know my brother Calen would express the same sentiment, had I had the courage to tell him the truth."

Calen's arm went around his older brother, Jolan seeing their bond unchanged.

"Thank you, Uncles. For both of your giving, loving souls."

Both men smiled, Jolan nodding for Simus to continue.

"Your father welcomed me again as brother. He introduced me to Shelly, the Oracle once more alive and functioning. I learned of all the life your mother and father had lived. Upon leaving Moldavia, your father set his heart to a task."
Jolan's eyes looked around the room.

"The Unifier became the Hunter."
Simus' eyes widened, staring at Jolan.

"My father became the hunter of evil. He sought out the evilness of the world. And behind that duty burned a greater resolve. He was hunting for the truth of his wife's innocence. He was hunting for Fagin Greyhound."
"Yes, Jolan. My brother became the Hunter. And yes, his greatest prey was Fagin. For what the man did to our brother Calen so many years ago, and for what he'd done to the love of his life, my brother became the Hunter."

Jolan remained still, looking at his uncle.

"And that eventually brought him to the small town of Cutter's Bluff. And there, I believe, he found a greater evil. He found the core of the evil of Fagin. Your father or mother never told myself the name of that town. Joel felt the need for secrecy was paramount. So I never learned of it. It took me a long time after to find it, and by that time he and Melina--as well as yourselves--had disappeared."

Jolan nodded, looking at Simus.

"My brother and Melina swore me to secrecy. I offered my strength and love to aid them but my loving Joel refused. In his eyes I saw his unchanged love for me--that courageous, giving, protective love. They went back to that town, my brother going back to fight alone. I truly believe that night of tragedy was the pinnacle of that fight. I believe that night my brother found the center of evil. And I shutter to think that maybe that night the evil triumphed, my brother and sweet Melina destroyed."
Simus was in tears now, Calen's arm around him.

"Forgive me, brother! Forgive me for not following him! For not joining him in that fight!"

"It's alright, Simus. Our loving Joel had his reasons for not taking your help. I truly believe that." Calen said, comforting him.

"Yes, Uncles. My father had his reasons. I truly believe that as well. I now see that he found that evil, whatever or whomever it was or is. That night, as you said Uncle Simus, was the night it revealed itself. And I believe he wasn't alone when he fought against it. My mother would have been by his side. As I know I and my Jennie would have been as well. A family standing against evil."

Jennie got up, walking up to her brother, his protective arms going around her.

"I believe that evil is still there, or part of it is. I'm going back there to find it. I have my father's courage. I shall hunt it as well."
Everyone looked quietly at Jolan, his eyes going to Justin.

"I'm suddenly tired, Jus. We have an early start in the morning. Tomorrow, it begins."
Justin nodded, he and Jolan hugging everyone goodnight, Jolan seeing concern and love in all their eyes.

Josh kissed his cheek, Jolan smiling at him.

"See you in the morning, Jo. "
"I'll be looking for you, sexy."
Josh laughed, blushing.

"Not as revealing next time."
"Rats!" Jolan said smiling at him, Justin guiding him out of the room.

Everyone watched the two leave, looks exchanged around the room.

"A revealing evening. Our Jolan walks with destiny and fate." Henry said, his arm around Shelly.

"Our Jolan walks with love." Shelly said, looking towards Simus.

"I think we'll all need his love before this ends. My brother's son is walking into a nest of evil."
Shelly put her hand on his shoulder.

"Our Jolan's love will conquer over all." he said, Shelly smiling.

After looking so many years ago into the eyes of a seven-year-old boy, in Simus' heart he now truly believed that.

End of Chapter 65

Well, surprises, surprises, and more surprises!!

Shelly's the best!

A magical woman of great worth, love and respect.

I just couldn't make her anything less.

Seems she stood by Jolan through all his youthful years, but unable to help him when he needed help the most.

Such is the path of fate.

More revealing is that to her he again came back for protection, albeit under a coma of pain.

As a true friend she protected him, holding onto the belief of his coming back.

And one day he did, guided by Justin's love.

What lays in the heart of the town of Cutter's Bluff?

Will Jolan find his parents and together and unite them again with their families and the One Council?

It all begins in the quaint little town of Cutter's Bluff.

Read on, dear friends, the drama and reality of Jolan's past is about to unveil.

Waiting in anticipation along with my fans, Angel.

email:  music-fan-1@hotmail.com