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Ch 3 of my first book |
Chapter 3 they walked into the city to see that everyone in the city was taking on all the activities of a normal day, but there was a mist in the air, and the group could barely see the people within 100 cubits of them. they also noticed that the people seemed almost zombified, as if they were doing as a higher being told them. they were very flushed, and had little color to them, and the whole city was a very gloomy place. they began to walk through the city, toward koth's house, when they heard moans. they found that it was the people that made the noise. they kept walking, and also kept their wits about them, ready to fight at any given moment. ike, having been a minuteman for a city he lived in a few years back, he could get into the fighting mood in a matter of seconds, sword in hand. they finally reached koth's house, which seemed to spew mist from it, like every other house in the city. they entered it, not bothering to knock. when they walked in, koth was sitting at his study desk and looked normal in comparison to the others of the city they had seen. "koth? are you ok brother?" bishdu asked. koth looked up from a book he was reading, and smiled. "hey brother, what brings you here?" koth said. "so you arent like the rest of the city?" tornado said. "oh, them. no, my mind was far too scholared for them to do such a thing to me, so now, i just live amongst zombies. what a life, huh." "them? who did this koth?" troy questioned, the others staring, waiting for the answer. "from the clues that i have gathered, and all the hints toward who it was, i have come to think that it was, an evil man i read about, by the name of trigend." he answered. "trigend? how do i know that name, how is that name familiar?" tornado growled. "i dont know, but lets get the info we need and get outta here, this place is like a cemetary at night." kent said. "right. koth, we have come to learn a bit about the nine sentinal scrolls. what do you know?" tornado asked. "the nine sentinal scrolls, eh. lets see. the nine scrolls are fire, time, blizzard, earth, aqua, shock, tornado, shadow and heaven. each has three powers, except the heaven, which has four. the first power, you must open the scroll. the second, hold it to your heart, if that heart is a good heart. third, place your hand completely over the scroll's symbol. for the heaven, the fourth will automatically come into action when it needs to. thats all you need to know. by the way, which one are you guys going after first, fire?" koth said. "how did you know?" tornado questioned him. "hmm, let me think about that, im a scholar! i could tell by what you were thinking tornado. you were thinking of finding a scroll in a volcano, dont know why, but thats what you were thinking of. so, gee, 2 and 2 is 4, you are looking for the fire first." koth stated. "ok, well, im not a genius, lets get outta here guys, thanks for all the info, koth." tornado said. "any time." koth said to them as they exited the house and went back out into the city. "well, where do we start looking?" troy asked. "troy, we dont look, we wait, just, somewhere other than here." tornado said. "why would we wait?" troy shouted. "troy, do you not remember? kent can sense the scrolls, he can sense if they are within five ultra-cubits of us." tornado explained. "its five miles, quit with the ultra-cubit super jumbo crap." troy shouted, louder than before. "i told you, its what im used to. thats like telling a bird to quit being a bird." tornado shouted back at him. "guys, quit shouting, lets just get outta here and find somewhere to go." bishdu said calmly. "we should all split up, there are nine of these scrolls, and the more groups, the more likely we will find them." ike said. "yeah, i say we split up, all of us, except bishdu and nikita." tornado said much calmer. "ok, but before we split up, maybe we should have a way to contact eachother, in case we have to fight a fight we cannot win." kent stated. "true, i have little coby, but everyone needs to find one, and send a note to one of us when needed." bishdu said. "well, ill be heading to the forest of mesmerization, ive heard splendid stories about it. plus, it has so many tricks, someone could have a scroll and be using the many tricks and natural phenomenons to hide it." tornado said. "ill be headed for ozrin, maybe someone escaped across the border." ike growled. "hmm, i guess im headed over to caprice city, underground. maybe someone has one or something, i dont know." kent proclaimed. "that means im off to jyrgon, or is it jeergin, i dont know, either way, im going to jyrgon to search." troy said enthusiastically. "nikita and i will head over to star valley, then." bishdu informed them. so with everything said, the group said their goodbyes to eachother, and were on their ways to their destinations. tornado was heading to the most dangerous location, and wasnt a city, but a forest. the forest of mesmerization, notorious for its many natural tricks and marvelous phenomenons. he had only heard of one trick, the legendary rain that only seemed to weather above that forest. the rain above that forest was no ordinary rain. when the rain fell, each drop could knock a small child to the ground, therefore, the forest, over time, created ditches, leading the water away from the forest into the lake of the weep. since he only knew of one thing the forest had in store for him, he wasnt well prepared, and would probably be surprised at such sudden changes or happenings, that the forest was known for. he was headed into a giant magic show, it seemed, which would be the journey of his life. as he headed there through a forest, he could tell that the trees were now stretching toward the sky. "hmm, almost there, didnt expect to only have to walk for five minutes. the trees are getting taller, i must be very near, or even within the forest by now." he mumbled to himself. he began to hum the beat to a song he had listened to as a child. he was about to embark on an adventure in the second largest forest in the world, and the most tricky. he was beginning to envisage what the adventure would be like, and the only image coming to his head was his very own death. soon, he discovered that he was now in the forest of mesmerization, which was extremely vast around him. the trees stretched up to the clouds, and the horizon could be seen here and there, but much of it was blocked by trees and other encumbrances. "it still seems rather tranquil." tornado said to himself, and the listening trees. he felt as if he was guided here, like he needed some relaxation from all the training. "i feel that god has sheperded me here, that i should be here to rest. maybe the scroll will be easy." he uttered. he did feel rather peaceful and calm, but was he alone, or was he being watched? he was unaware of everything behind him, focused on what was in front of him. suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. he spun around with such speed he almost fell, but he saw nothing. his rather tranquil mood was now nervous and edgy. he continued onward, finding a cave, an enormous cave that seemed to welcome him in. he figured he could handle most things that would fight him, so he entered the cave with caution. as he made his way through the cave, he saw a light through a narrow pathway. he thought to himself, maybe its a city, or a creature, or a fire. he slipped through the narrow path and was astonished at his discorvery. he was now looking at a vast opening, much larger that the cave he had imagined he was in, and saw that there was a large tree somehow growing in the intermediate part of the cave, with no sunlight to give it nourishment. around it, was a vast number of green glowing mushrooms. the tree had a shiny white trunk, and the leaves were a bronze color. it also beared fruit that gave off a glow, but a much brighter glow than that of the mushrooms. the sight was a truly splendid one indeed. he had never seen such a thing in his life. in a way, it reminded him of the festival he had attended just days ago. he ventured into the open area, and got a closer look at the mushrooms. he plucked one out of the ground, and it lay, glowing in his hand. "it glows even after being ripped from the ground?" tornado whispered. he pulled up six more and put them in his bag. the mushrooms were extremely sturdy, abnormally sturdy. he was keeping them all to give to his friends, for torches. "if these things glow forever, which im not sure of, they're better than fire, which must be made and may go out." he wandered further into the cave, and came to the tree. he looked up at its beauty, and noticed that it was not as big as it had looked the previous minute. he picked one of the fruit that it beared, and he bit into it. "this is the most incredible thing i have ever eaten." he said while taking another bite. eventually, he had eaten the whole fruit, soft, menicing core and all. he picked more fruit from the tree, shoving them into his pack for the rest to try. then, his attention turned to the bronze leaves. he reached up and felt the leaves of a low branch. when he touched the leaves, they grated into a dust. he kept the dust, putting it into a small jar he had kept for anything he might find. he figured that it may heal or something along those lines. he was truly impressed with the forest of mesmerization, and had only been within its territory for a short moment. after a few minutes of fantasizing over its beauty, he finally turned his back to the tree and began his way out of the cave. suddenly, he felt the urge to climb into the tree. "maybe theres a scroll in the tree?" tornado mumbled to himself. he turned back and began to climb the tree. he was careful not to crush too many leaves, but he noticed that they grew back within thirty seconds anyway. after quite a climb, he was tired, and noticed that he was well over twenty feet above the ground. then, he saw it, a paper-like object squeezed between two branches. he reached out for it, but coudlnt reach. with that, he worked his way over to it. he pulled it out of its comfortable bed, and noticed that it was a scroll. his heart began to pound, and he was beginning to sweat. he opened the scroll, and in clear english, he read, "heaven sentinal scroll." "oh my heavens, i found one!" he shouted, causing an eco in the large cave. he jumped out of the tree and headed for the exit. when he was near the narrow path, he turned back, and saw a final glimpse of the wonderful cave, before he turned and exited the cave. "i cant believe i found it, the heaven scroll. isnt this the one with four powers instead of three?" he said to himself. with the heaven scroll slipped neatly inside his armor, in a slot for things such as paper, he headed deeper into the mysterious unknown. he hadn't a single clue as to where he was headed, what troubles lurked ahead. soon, he noticed that it was beginning to get dark, so he layed out a mat he had brought along and collapsed upon it. in a minute, he was asleep, dreaming an almost real dream. *tornado was at a funeral in his dream. he walked over to the coffin, and peered in only to see himself lying in it, dead. he backed away with a shudder. he looked around at all of his friends who were crying and grieving over him. this boiled his blood, to think his friends would make such a fuss over him. he turned around to look into the coffin again, and did not see himself lying in it, but now lay his friend, jayrem. suddenly, he sat up in the coffin, and poked tornado. "wake up. wake up." jayrem repeated. * tornado woke to see jayrem over top of him, telling him to wake up. he sat up and yawned. "what time is it?" he mumbled. "hour before dusk." jayrem replied. "please, let me sleep." tornado groaned as he fell back onto his mat with a thud. "ok, ill let you do that." jayrem said. a few minutes passed and jayrem, too, was asleep. but tornado and jayrem were not the only ones sleeping in the area. who was it? was it an enemy or an ally? tornado and jayrem slept, unknowing of the possible danger that was so very close to them. at dusk, the two awoke, but not to find themselves alone, but with a small girl between them. "tornado, who might this be, and how didn't i see her just an hour ago?" "i dont know, but maybe we should wake her, and find out." he yawned. so jayrem gave the small girl a nudge, startling her. she rose up, unaware of who the two men with her were. then, without any notice, she leaped at jayrem, hugging him tight. he, not knowing what to do, wrapped his arms around the small girl and hugged her back. "who is she?" tornado whispered faintly. the girl let go of jayrem and stood before them. then, she finally spoke with a tiny voice. "im tina." she peeped. "tina, eh. where are you from, where are your parents?" jayrem asked the girl. "parents?" the girl clearly did not know what the word meant. "your mommy and daddy?" jayrem asked. "they are gone, vanished." "where to? are you playing hide n' seek with them?" jayrem questioned her with a puzzled look. "no, one morning, they were just gone. they have been gone for five or nine days i think." "hmm. would you like us to take care of you?" jayrem said to the girl. "yes, you can be my new dadduh." "ok, im your new, eh, dadduh." jayrem spoke quietly. "so, tina, how old are you exactly?" he questioned. "i think im five or six, maybe, i cant rememer." "its ok." "oh, hey jayrem, i mean, dadduh, what ever happened to marth?" "oh, marth started his level three training a bit early, eager beaver." "great, this kingdom needs some strong knights." the girl stared at the two, wondering what they spoke of, wondering what a knight was and why a kingdom, whatever it was, needed them. "well, i think the three of us should be heading deeper into the forest, to find a scroll, i believe." jayrem roared with his deep voice. "oh, how could i forget to tell you. yesterday, i went into a cave and found the heaven scroll." tornado stated. "thats wonderful!" he replied. "yeah, but i still feel that theres another scroll hiding within this forest somewhere." tornado growled. "there very well could be, but can we contact the others, so we can let them know?" "yes, but they would want to see, and abandon their quests." tornado said. "you are correct, im afraid. they will have to wait and see." jayrem said in his deep voice. "well, shall we continue through the forest, it is quite large. in fact, probably around two thousand acres." tornado roared. "yeah, let us continue." so jayrem picked the tiny girl up and sat her on his shoulders for a ride, since she was younger and slower. the three continued the journey through the forest of mesmerization. after a while, they began to hear water, falling. they also saw a cliff ahead of them, where the land they were walking on dropped. they continued down the path, and were soon forced to turn to the right because of the drop. there was land next to the cliff, though, so they walked around and turned to see the truth. four inches beneath the top of the cliff was a large crack, that was at least six inches thick. water was spewing from the crack. they stared at the phenominon, wondering how it was so. "how it that water coming from the side of that cliff? where does the water start?" tornado asked. "i believe i remember. i read up on this forest just a bit, to be aware in case of retreating here. for your first question, it is an underground river or stream. for your second question, the water that causes this fall starts down at the bottom of the fall." "wha???" "yes. you see, a natural pump has occured here. there is a hole down at the bottom that the water level can cover up. the hole isnt just a hole, its a tunnel leading around to the top, where the stream begins. there is a rock on top of that hole, that causes pressure. as the water covers the hole down at the bottom, since the rock wont allow water to just slowly fill, the pressure builds and pops the rock right off of the hole, causing the water to shoot up through the tunnel, bringing water to the top, to fall. its a cycle, you see." jayrem said, about out of breath. jayrem lifted tina off his shoulders and sat her down. he nealt down, and drew a diagram in the dirt, to help better understand what he meant by the natural pump. he was no artist, but the picture did indeed make things a bit clearer. "how did this ~tunnel~ get here?" "probably a simple sectim worm, which is now extinct, i believe." "amazing. this forest will probably give us even bigger surprises as we progress." tornado said. "i would imagine." jayrem said while putting tina back onto his shoulders. "if only they were physical surprises." they continued the journey, in hope of finding another scroll. they were pressing onward, deeper into the forest of mesmerization, which neither of them knew a thing about. tina was no longer on jayrem's shoulders, but was now skipping behind them, not paying attention to her surroundings. meanwhile, bishdu and nikita had finally reached star valley. it was a truly marvelous place, and rather romantic for the two. star valley was a valley where it was never sunny, but always dark, containing starry sky. it was unknown to most why the sun never lit up the valley. "i wonder how everyone is doing?" bishdu questioned, not expecting an answer. "i hope they are doing alright." nikita said. "lets hope so, we may be safe, but we haven't found a scroll. but, this valley is large, so we have much to explore." bishdu proclaimed. so they continued their romantic search for a scroll. tornado and jayrem were still traveling, and tina was still skipping behind them, now singing a song that tornado nor jayrem knew about. "shhh, tina, dont sing anymore. i heard something." jayrem said while coming to a halt. the three were quiet, and listened. in the distance, they heard what sounded like an orchestra of flutes and other instruments. they began moving again, toward the sound. it seemed to draw them in, as if they were under a spell. they continued, until the sound was loud and clear. they saw no instruments, nobody around. then, they found what the source of the music was. they noticed that there were a few random trees with large and small holes in them, and when the wind blew through them, it made harmonious music. "is it really possible for those trees to be alive with such holes right through them?" tornado asked. "well, they're alive, aren't they?" jayrem grunted. "i suppose, but how did they get there?" "you know, i dont know. woodpeckers aren't that strong, are they?" "i couldnt imagine." tornado said. "oh, the musical trees, they grow like that, nobody made them that way, they are just born that." tina said in her much softer, higher pitched voice than the men she was with. "oh, so they are a type of tree?" jayrem questioned the girl. "yep." "they are a bit comforting, but we must proceed." tornado stated. with that, they continued, as the music slowly faded, until it was a faint memory, still in their heads. "hey, i heard there is a giant tree with paths and branches and things that form a pathway where you can drop a ball at the top, and it will follow the path all the way down." jayrem said while walking, wondering what was ahead. "i dont know, that would be neat, though." suddenly, they heard marching, as if an army was heading for them. the sound grew louder, ringing in their ears. now, it was so loud that it seemed there was an army all around them, but still, they saw nothing. this freightened little tina, so she wrapped herself around jayrems thigh, and buried her face in his side. he put a hand around her, to comfort her. tornado drew his sword. "whats goin on?" tornado hollered over the marching. "i dont know, ghosts?" jayrem said in a concerned voice. soon, the noise was behind them, and was slowly dieing down. then, it went silent in the forest again. "what was that?" tornado asked as he put his sword away. "i dont know, but if that was bad, whats that coming at us right now?" jayrem said with a bit of excitement. tornado saw it. it was a tiny bird, like the one bishdu had. it landed on jayrem, which nearly scared him to death. tornado snatched the tiny bird. it had a note in its talons. he unrolled it and began to read aloud. "tornado, i wish you luck as you continue your journey. wanted to inform you that i am doing fine in ozrin, everything is going good. haven't found any scrolls yet. your friend, ike." "ah, ike. so he went to ozrin in search of a scroll." tornado began to write on the back of the note. "ike, i am doing fine in the forest. i have jayrem with me, and we found a little girl who is with us. before either of them showed up, i found the heaven scroll, so pass the news around. good luck with your quest. keep warm, make smart decisions, tornado." "let me read it, what did you say to him?" jayrem asked. "here, read it." "ike, i am doing fine in the forest. i have jayrem with me, and we found a little girl who is with us, named tina. before either of them showed up, i found the heaven scroll, so pass the news around. good luck with your quest. keep warm, make smart decisions, tornado." "there, thanks for reading it to me, i really needed that." tornado said sarcastically. they sent the bird on its way and went on their way. soon, it began to grow dark. tornado only had two mats he had brought along to sleep on, but luckily jayrem had one, so everyone could sleep in some comfort. they stopped between a few large trees and threw the mats on the ground, ready to sleep. since tina was so small, she layed on half a mat, and covered herself with the other half. tornado and jayrem were too large, and just slept on the mats. tornado was asleep quickly, and began dreaming. *tornado walked up to juli and kissed her. they held hands and walked down the aisle in a church, as if they were just married, ordinary cloths and all. then the dream seemed to fast forward, and the two were in their 30's, and had a house, with a small boy running around. tornado called him by his name, jorn. juli reached down and lifted the boy in the air. the two seemed happy with their child, their home, and their marriage.* next to tornado, jayrem was also having quite a dream. *jayrem walked into his house. everything looked as it did, except that dust was piled up on everything. he saw tina and marth sitting at the table, eating. he sat down next to them. "hey you two." "hey dad." marth said. "hi daddy." tina peeped. "marth, im not your dad." "yeah you are, dont you know that you have five kids?" marth explained. "five kids? as far as i know, i have one, thats tina, and i didnt even make her, i found her." "i know, you adopted her, just like you did with me. the other three are from your own blood." "oh, and mommy will be home soon." tina said happily. "mommy? am i married? who is she?" jayrem said, astonished. "yes, your married, silly. and mom's real name is jenita." marth announced. "jenita, eh? i must be dreaming or something." "no, this is real, if it was a dream, could i do this?" marth said while enlarging himself to the size of a man. "yes you could, so maybe i should wake up, and soon." jayrem shouted. * jayrem woke, to find tina and tornado sleeping, dreaming next to him. he layed back down and went back to sleep. tina was also dreaming, but was her dream about the future, or possibly even the past. *tina looked around, but couldnt move. she was only a year old. she saw a man and a woman, she guessed to be her parents. they were running toward her, but they seemed to keep getting further from her, instead of closer. she watched as the two disappeared. she sat there, unable to do anything, being so young. then, the dream fast forwarded and tina was now a young woman, eighteen years old. she walked over to a young man, and kissed him. "do you want to eat dinner together tonight?" "sure, we'll go eat." her boyfriend said to her with a smile. "great, ill be sure to wear that tight dress tonight." * soon, it was morning, and the three were awake, and ready to continue the journey. "did either of you have a dream about the future last night?" tornado asked. "yeah, actually, i did." jayrem said. "in my dream, i was older, and i kissed a boy." tina squeeked. "hmm, we all had dreams of the future. maybe its an effect the forest has on us." "yeah, who knows what this forest has in store for us during our visit." jayrem growled. "i dont know, im almost scared to go to sleep." tornado said with a laugh. "well, we better keep going, we need to find something." jayrem said. so the the three continued walking, unaware that the forest could play tricks with their minds while they were conscious. tornado watched everything, taking no chances of an attack with tina by their side. jayrem was occupied by what lied ahead, and only that. tina was watching the ground, and every now and again, she would look up, but only to look right back down. time was passing by them, but they seemed to not notice the hours that they had already walked. "thank god we haven't been walking for hours. what has it been, ten minutes?" tornado mumbled. "no, i think its only been five." jayrem replied. the two were wrong, much too wrong. the three had been walking for four hours. the forest was playing with their heads, yet again. "jayrem, you look drunk, whats wrong with you, your heads wiggling like crazy." tornado babbled. "my head may be wigglin, but at least it isnt so huge like yours." jayrem said. "is that a fire ahead?" tina peeped. "na, ih juss a, treeee." tornado said, fumbling with his words. "yeah, you in fine hunds." jayrem juggled with his words. soon, the three were splitting up, but were too screwed up, and were unaware. they were eventually a few miles apart. then, the three collapsed, almost simultaneously. they were all unconcsious now. soon, it grew dark, and they were still asleep, but not even close to eachother. jayrem wasn't dreaming, but was sleep walking, and in doing so, he abandoned the other two by walking even further, and was soon multiple miles away from the other two. tina wasn't dreaming either, but was climbing in her sleep, as if she was a monkey. tornado was also not dreaming, but instead, was hacking away at trees with his sword. the three had no clue what they were doing. after a while, they came to their senses and noticed that they had been split up. tornado and jayrem were fine alone, because they were men, but tina on the other hand, was only five years old, and wasn't liking it much. "daddy?" tina shouted. she looked around for them, nervously. "did they leave me?" tornado wasn't nervous, but was a bit concerned about tina. "tina! jayrem!" he hollered through the forest. "i wonder what happened, and how come i cant remember anything that happened in the past few days?" jayrem was nervous, and didnt know what to do. "tina!" he shouted. tornado was becoming dizzy, and soon passed out. during his unconsciousness, he was almost awake, moving around, quickly. he took the heaven scroll and decided to hide it. he picked a random tree and jumped to the top. he slid it between two branches, and jumped out of the tree. he walked on a little bit, but soon fell to the ground. he layed there for an hour, but eventually came to. "what the heck, what just happened?" he grumbled. "why cant i remember a confounded thing?!" he scouted around, looking for tina and jayrem, and was so confused by what had happened in the past twenty-four hours, that he slowly began to lose his mind; go insane. he reached into his armor to pull out the scroll, but felt nothing. he began scanning the area, in case he dropped it. "what has happened?" he shouted, this time, gaining the attention of some orc raiders. they followed his shouting voice, hoping to steal his pocessions. soon, they were in full view, and tornado saw them. they were hobbling toward him, clumsily. he pulled his sword out, ready to fight them. |
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