David quickly memorized the cell numbers. “I’ll work that row,” he decided.
The guard below him looked up. “The bell rings, and you go on duty. Or...” he drew a hand across his throat.
David nodded, gulping.
BONG, BONG, BONG, BONG.
David sat up quietly, grabbed his javelin and paper, and ran to his cell rows.
He ran so fast that he ran into another guard.
“Watch where yer goin’, dummy!” said the guard, shoving him off. “What’s yer big fat hurry?”
“Er..guard duty,” David quickly answered.
“Well, watch where yer goin, Speedo.” The guard pushed past and disappeared.
David started strolling along his row.
“Pick up your pace, slowpoke!” A guard came up behind David and poked him with a spear.
David whirled around and jabbed the guard in the stomach. “If you call me a name to my face, pal, you’ll be sorry!” He strode off.
The guard, who was named Nimao, glared after him and hurried away.
David squinted at cell numbers until he found the four he wanted side by side. He listened carefully for signs of approaching guards, and cautiously whispered, “Zircon? Ruby? Sapphire? Opal?”
Thin faces slowly appeared at the barred windows. “What?” said one. “Your leader finally ready to kill us?”
“He’s not my leader. I’m a friend,” David whispered. “I’ll stay in touch. There’s a guard coming.”
The faces disappeared.
David started off again, passing a guard after a small distance.
Guard duty lasted for ten hours. David was relieved to go to his bunk and eat a scanty meal.
A week later, David had gotten into the routine of life: guard, eat, sleep, guard, eat, sleep. He tried to figure out how to rescue Amethyst’s sisters, finally getting an idea while he lay resting on his bunk.
“That’s it!”
Everyone looked up, expecting to see some of Ulysses’ followers who had been after him. To their relief, it was only Jaremiah and a companion.
“Hi, Jaremiah,” Sanole greeted Zaleigh’s older brother. “Want some food?”
“Sure,” Jaremiah said, sitting down and introducing his companion. “Guys, this is Tnerimo.”
“Hello,” Tnerimo said. He looked to be about twenty years old.
“He’s the newest in our squad,” Jaremiah explained, taking some food from Nadezda. He leaned back against a tree, setting down his javelin and unbuckling his sword sheath.
Sanole noticed that Tnerimo did not appear to have any weapons. “Don’t you have any weapons, Tnerimo?”
“Yes, I have some hidden daggers and some of my own powers,” Tnerimo said. “I can transfer myself from place to place, and I gave it to my sister before she disappeared. I can also read other peoples’ minds at a distance of four yards. I was born with it.” He looked at Sanole. “you are thinking that I am a weirdo warrior, no?”
Sanole looked surprised. “Wow, you’re right!”
“What else?” Valora asked curiously.
“Wen I hear a name that I do not like, some kind of force takes control of my eyes,” Tnerimo said, “so that they blast laserfire.”
“That’s kind of like Ulysses LaserDoom,” Nadezda observed.
Jaremiah jumped up. “Nadezda, that was the wrong thing to say!” he shouted. “Zanorm, quick, put him face first into a tree trunk. The rest of you, get ready to leave.”
Knapsacks were readied in a few minutes.
“It’s not stopping!” Jaremiah said. “His eyes are burning right through the trunk. Get away, guys, run!”
Sanole paused. “I hate to say this, but knocking him out might be the only way to stop it!” He raced after the others.
Jaremiah looked at the back of Tnerimo’s head. “I hate to do this, pal, but you’ll be grateful if it helps!” He was ready to follow Sanole’s advice when his friend came out of it.”
“Wow, what happened?” he said as he shook his head to clear it.
Jaremiah hesitated. “Uh..”
“Never mind,” Tnerimo said. “Let’s go, and I’ll tell you something.” As they started off, he began, “When I was the captive of someone very dangerous, she put that in me,” he explained. “She put it so that if I heard the names of one of her mortal enemies, I would blast laserfire.”
At Jason’s command, Jaazaniah went at his twin. “Prepare to die!”
Jaza didn’t answer, but she was calm.
They had been fighting for quite a while, and then Jaazaniah sourly admitted that she was hard to beat. He stopped and turned to Jaazaniah. “Come on, let’s scram,” he muttered.
Matt stepped out of Jason’s group. “Wait.”
Everyone waited, looking at him curiously.
Matt took Raen’s lantern and walked among Jaziah’s group, finally stopping in front of Rwaen. “I know you,” he said. “What is your name?”
“Rwaen,” Rwaen answered.
Matt turned so that everyone could see their faces clearly in the lantern light. “we are brothers,” he said simply, but clearly.
“Brothers?” Jaziah said incredulously.
“Yes,” Matt answered. “My name is Matthew, and his real name is Raewa.” He looked around. “We don’t need to be enemies. If we come together, we can enjoy bondings of brothers and sisters that were once on opposing sides.”
“We could try.” Jason shrugged. “But it’s not going to work unless we have promised not to harm each other.”
So it ended with enemies made in a day became friends.
Hadrian was doing his weekly quarters inspection, which he performed thoroughly. Then he went to talk to his commander, Kyro.
“Has Pike returned?” he asked.
“Not yet, Master,” answered Kyro. “Pogisa has just been sent after him to see what is taking him so long.”
“When they return, send them to my chamber,” Hadrian ordered. “If I am not there, they will have to wait.”
“Yes sir,” Kyro said obediently.
Hadrian left and went along a maze of passages, stopping when he came to a solid metal door. He opened it and went inside.
The gas room of the Scorpion!
Pogisa and Pike went to Kyro’s room.
“Jason met up with another group, prob’ly allies,” Pogisa reported.
“That’s his name, eh? Jason?” Kyro replied, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
“Yep,” Pike said.
“You are to report to Hadrian in his chamber,” Kyro ordered. “Wait if he is not there.”
“Yes, sir!” Pogisa said.
The pair hurried off.
Hadrian had hired the Scorpion for jobs such as this. Scorpion had black hair and black and green eyes. He was an expert on gases, particularly killer gases, and was in the process of creating a new kind.
He paused and turned to Hadrian. “Another job?” he asked hopefully.
“Yes,” Hadrian said. “My two best spies will take you to where you need to be. When you are able to, come as soon as you can.”
“I can come now,” the Scorpion answered. “My new gas can wait.”
Hadrian followed the Scorpion to his own chamber, where Pike and Pogisa were waiting. They gave their report.
Hadrian gave them instructions and sent them off.
“Are you familiar with the woodlands?” Pike asked the Scorpion.
“Yes,” he answered shortly.
Pogisa scurried back to them from where he had been scouting the woodlands. “I’ve found the trail. Fol-“
The Scorpion found it himself and sped off. The spies ran after him.
Dim sunlight was starting to filter through the trees when they stopped.
Scorpion turned to Pike and Pogisa. “Which one is the leader?”
Pike pointed out Jason. “That one.”
The Scorpion hid his pouch of supplies, made sure his sword could be seen clearly, and walked into the clearing.
Everyone stared at him. They had never seen someone stranger in their life.
The Scorpion was pleased to see that at least the younger crew members seemed a little scared. He pointed to Jason. “I came to talk to him.”
Cien immediately sensed that he was dangerous. He stepped forward. “About what?” he asked.
Scorpion drew his sword. “I came to talk to your leader. Are you challenging me?” He pointed his sword at Cien.
“Come here,” Jason said.
As the Scorpion made his way toward Jason, Jason whispered something to Jaziah, who nodded.
“We’ll talk alone,” Jason said. “We’ll be away for a while.”
They went off, and Jaziah followed at a short distance, with his ever present weapons. He kept a close eye on the Scorpion, who, after a while, started to bring out his pouch.
Jaziah fit an arrow onto his bow and aimed at the Scorpion’s swift working hand. He was a little late, shooting at his target only seconds after he released some gas at Jason. He raced after the Scorpion, who had escaped as soon as the deed was done
Scorpion ran for his life, ignoring the arrow that had stuck in his wrist. “I did it!” he said to himself. “Hadrian will be pleased!”
That evening, as Hadrian was eating, the Scorpion burst into his chamber.
“I did it!” he announced.
“Did ya check?” Hadrian inquired.
“Er..no. But no one has ever survived a dose of it!” Scorpion said. He ran back out.
“He seemed a little too confident,” said Jezebel, from her cushioned chair at the other side of the room. She knew Hadrian’s plan. “And, he was probably in a hurry because he had an aroow shot at him that he needed removed.
The conversation changed, but stopped abruptly when Pike and Pogisa burst in.
Hadrian looked at them, annoyed. “What do you want?”
Pike told him all that had gone on.
“Dismissed.” Hadrian waved his hand.
The twins left quickly.
She saw it on the screen,
She went right into action,
She got her act together,
But the actual fact was,
Why was she leaving?
And where was she going?
If she told anyone,
They would not believe her.
A blinding flash of light,
And she is gone,
Only she knows where.
Jaziah ran back to the camp. “Jason’s gone! He’s gone!”
“He’s dead?” Cien rose quickly to his feet.
“No! That mysterious visitor gassed him and ran off, and I followed him. When I came back, he was gone!” Jaziah explained.
Cien gave Jason’s crew a glance. They grabbed their things as Cien gave swift orders. They hurried off.
Jaziah ordered his crew to pack up and follow. “They’ll be lookin’ for him. Let’s help.”
Jaremiah and Tnerimo soon caught up with the main group.
“You didn’t have to take my advice, I see,” Sanole said.
“He came right out of it.” Jaremiah snapped a finger.
“What kind of things do you guys like?” Tnerimo said. “I can also see very far, but that’s not too special. I also have another one that I’d like to keep secret right now.”
“I like to joke and tease,” Sanole said. He grinned.
“I like to have my nose in a book.” Farren pointed at Valora. “She would too.”
“Me?” Zaleigh said. “I like eating! And archery,” he added.
“I like reading books, archery and adventures,” Nadezda said, smiling. “I like puzzles, too.”
“I like freedom!” Lewis exclaimed. “I spent most of my life as a prisoner.”
“I like education..” Dacinia paused as everyone else made faces.. “I want to be a teacher.”
“An honorable calling,” Tnerimo agreed. “My sister was a gentle sort. She wanted to be a doctor. I thought she would be good for the job, although it is hard to find good medical training.”
“I want to be a nurse when I grow up,” Valora put in.
They walked on in silence for a while. Then Dacinia pulled a slip of paper from her pocket.
“It’s the second riddle to find the treasure,” she explained. “When we were captured by Ulysses’ followers, they didn’t bother to search our pockets. It was safe.”
“Read it to us,” Tnerimo said, sounding interested.
Dacinia read it aloud for the group.
“ ‘Meet the one by light found’,” repeated Jaremiah. He looked at Tnerimo, who nodded in agreement. “Sounds familiar. I have a pretty good idea of who that is.”
“Who?” Zaleigh asked.
“Well, there are two brothers,” Jaremiah began. “One is called Conrad, the other Caelan. They are part of another squad in our group.”
Tnerimo said, “It might be one of them.”
“It’s a fair idea,” Zanorm said, “but there are dozens of people this riddle could point to. This person might be dead. The riddle did specify that it was a ‘he’, though how many ‘he’s exist? Dozens.”
“Oh, don’t be pessimistic, Zanorm,” Sanole said. “Not everyone is ‘found by light’. That narrows it down quite a bit.”
“Yes,” Jaremiah agreed. “As I said earlier, might point to one of our group.”
“That would definitely make sense,” Tnerimo said.
Zaleigh pointed to a light up ahead that he had just spotted. “What’s that?”
Everyone followed his gaze. Zaleigh had been talking about a campfire down the path that was glowing brightly in the darkening forest.
Jaremiah said, “Tnerimo and I will check it out. You guys hide somewhere until we say it’s safe.”
The group obeyed as the two warriors went off.
“I found Jason!” Breanna called. “He’s leaning against a tree over there, like he’s asleep.”
While some people stayed to guard the camp, the rest followed Breanna to where Jason was. He was awake and fine.
“What?” he said when he saw them staring at him.
“Er..y’okay?” Cien asked.
“Never felt better.”
“Do you even remember what happened?” Jaziah inquired.
“I somehow fell asleep when I was talking to him,” Jason said.
Jaziah explained to everyone back at the camp what had happened.
She saw it all,
She saw the fall.
Now the oak hid her.
She knew things
Were fine as they were.
It was time for her to go,
Not her face would she dare show,
Lest they force her to stay.
Not one moment would she stand still,
Away she went, away!
They ate a quick breakfast, packed up, and went after Raen, Jason’s best scout, and Jaeryah, Jaziah’s best scout, who combined their skills and looked over maps while everyone packed, plotting their route out of the backwoods. Then they went ahead, leaving a trail for the others to follow.
“If we travel and take quick rests,” Jaeryah said, “we should be out in a few days.”
“Yeah,” Raen agreed. He ran his eyes over a map and pointed to a spot on it. “We’re there now.” He did some quick math in his head. “We should be out in less than a week.” He looked up, and saw Jaeryah peeking through some bushes. “What’s up?” he asked.
Jaeryah beckoned to him. “Come see this,” he whispered.
Raen joined him and saw what had caused Jaeryah to be so quiet.
A sight that had even them scared.
“Oh, no,” Raen whispered. “It’s her!”