Chapter 13
Own Their Own
The first key was a fake, but the real key was out
there, somewhere. Mr. Stewart pulled Jane aside and showed
her a third of a key that he had found while in the temple
of the Azul many years ago. Jane played it off, but she
knew that he was telling the truth because she had a second
third. All they needed was one other piece and the key
would be complete. Jane noticed the same perfection and
beauty in the piece Mr. Stewart had.
Jane became angry and slapped Mr. Stewart across the
face for setting up her husband to go on a mission with a
fake key, and being betrayed by his brother. Mr. Stewart
assured Jane that it had to be done; it was in the scrolls
of Baja for this to take place. Jane did not care about the
scrolls; her husband and family were ruined over a fairy
tale prophecy.
Mr. Stewart assured Jane that it would all be worth it
in the end. He took Jane's face into his hands and gently
rubbed the tears away, telling her that she had given birth
to a boy king who would retrieve the other part of the key.
Jane quickly took Mr. Stewart's hands off of her face and
turned away in anger.
"You have turned two brothers against each other,"
said Jane.
"Marcus Carrot-Top was going to turn on his brother,
because he was jealous of him, even from birth," said Mr.
Stewart.
"I don't believe you," said Jane.
Mr. Stewart told Jane that she would soon know the
truth, that Sam had hidden away for many years from her
that his brother Marcus from birth was always an evil
child, and that at night Marcus used to worship the evils
of Baja. Marcus was the only child born in Baja without a
secret power, and because of this Marcus became jealous and
wanted what Sam had. The only way to get it was to join the
seven wizards of the forest.
"Who are these seven wizards?" said Jane to Mr.
Stewart.
But he wasn't ready to tell; he turned his back to
Jane and his face began to frown in disappointment. He then
quickly turned around and told Jane that one of the seven
wizards was his twin brother Mirus Stewart. Jane became
bewildered, and just stared at Mr. Stewart; she could not
believe what she was hearing. Could it really be true?
Jane let Mr. Stewart know that she did not believe
him, but he began to prove what he was saying was true; he
described to Jane the figure that Peter saw in his office.
That was his brother Mirus coming back and forth in time
travel from the forest. Mr. Stewart went on to tell Jane
that his brother also had a son named Larry who went to
school with Peter, and Larry had no powers either. He was
afraid that Larry would join his father in doing evil, so
he moved Larry into his home at a young age. Yet,
everything he tried to make Larry a good child failed.
Mr. Stewart told Jane that he was hiding Larry from
his brother, because Baja didn't need another evil wizard,
and that was why Oscar growled at Mr. Stewart, because
Mirus and Patric Stewart are twins. Patric then showed Jane
an old picture of him and Mirus growing up in Baja. Jane
looked at the picture closely and she could see the evil in
Mirus' eyes.
Suddenly, the boys in the picture seemed to move. Jane
quickly dropped the picture and ran out of the area, trying
to catch her breath. Patric ran after Jane, explaining to
her that he loved his brother just as much as Sam loved
his, but they were both evil, and that they must be
stopped. Mr. Stewart went on to explain the entire story to
Jane's army; everyone listened with care and concern.
Patric went on to list the seven wizards for the
fighters. He named his brother first. Of the seven wizards,
one was said to be deathly ill, and the six were looking
for a rare rhino plant; they were Mirus, Marcus, Bella,
Louis, Cilus, Hoyle, and Horitio. These seven wizards were
not born with powers, but got them through the first set of
seven wizards. When a wizard was sick and had to die,
before they left, they had to turn their souls and powers
over to another; because of this, children of Baja who were
not born with powers, were considered outcasts.
They would go and seek powers from the wizards of the
forest. Patric went on to tell the army that Cilus was the
sickly one, and that he had been sick for some time now.
Cilus was but a mere child, maybe ten to twelve years old,
and he was gifted with the power of death. One look into
his eyes, and he would suck a soul into the abyss; the soul
would crumble to the ground in mere ashes.
"We must get that rhino plant," said Samantha.
Patric went on to tell Samantha that the plant was
rare, and would not be easy to take; it was guarded by the
twelve-headed bull monster. Many men had tried, and not one
made it close enough to even grab the plant. After all that
they had been through, Samantha felt as if they could get
the plant before the wizards of the forest.
Samantha began to gather up her team, and told them
the plan, letting them know that it was too late to turn
back now; and for the sake of Baja, they must continue
fighting. Samantha got the army going; they began to cheer
and held up their fists with pride.
Patric walked away silently as Samantha wooed the
crowd into a frenzy. He then went to console Jane, and let
her know that they would win the war, and that they would
save Baja. All it would take was a matter of time. The look
of worry was still in Jane's eyes, but she felt that she
must fight for the sake of her child and the many other
young children in Baja. Patric held Jane closely in his
arms as Samantha looked on. When she saw this, she
immediately interrupted them.
"Keep your hands off of her; for all we know, you
could be a part of the wizards' imps!" said Samantha
strongly.
Patric walked off hesitantly and upset; he was
insulted by what Samantha had said, but the comment gave
Jane something to think about. They must be very careful
about who they trusted; they must determine what was real
and what was fake. Jane pulled herself together and was
ready once again to go to war. Jane ordered the army to get
a good night's rest because tomorrow would be a test of
will.
Jane then called to Mr. Stewart telling him that they
must find her husband and the others. Patric quickly
ushered Jane and Samantha to a secret room. In it was a
huge golden eye; the eye would open and shut, and each time
it seemed as if it was storing information about the
subject in question.
"I have never seen anything so beautiful," said Jane,
as she went over and rubbed her hands on the eye statue.
To Jane it felt almost alive; she could feel a
heartbeat and a pulse rushing through the object.
/> She quickly jumped back, causing a bit of a panic.
"It's alive!" she said.
"Yes, my dear, it is," said Patric.
He explained to Jane that this golden eye had been
found centuries ago, and no one knew how exactly to use it,
but by simply asking it to show a subject or place, the eye
seemed to find it very quickly. Jane and Samantha still
could not get over the beauty and fascination of the
ancient piece.
Suddenly the object gave off a bright light and a
voice said, "What shall the seeker seek?"
Mr. Stewart quickly replied for Jane, "We seek the
whereabouts of an army of good men fighting for Baja."
The eye sent out flying balls that turned into diskshaped
objects that flew through the sky. Within seconds
Jane, Samantha, and Mr. Stewart could see over the vast
land. The objects went flying through the air like runaway
rockets. Jane and the others watched intensely to see where
the disc would take them. Jane carefully looked in search
of her husband and the others over the large land mass. She
and the others could see the forest that was once lush
green turning into nothing more than dried up dead trees.
Everything in the forest was now becoming dead and
gloomy; the trees and plants yelled out for help, and the
animals of the forest began to die one after another. This
disease that the wizards had place on the forest was
spreading very fast; everything that once lived was now
dying by the minute. Then out on a corner, the eye spotted
some movement in the bushes, and it focused over in that
area. As the eye got closer, Jane could make out her
husband's orange hair.
"Thank goodness he's alive," cried Jane.
But her happiness was too soon; the eye picked up that
Sam and the others were running from the dark riders, some
of the soldiers were being caught and slaughtered right on
the spot, blood and guts splashing everywhere. One of the
soldier's limbs rolled by Sam, and he quickly held his
breath and stayed calm. He could feel the head of a dark
rider's horse above him; the evil horse was sniffing and
smelling through the bushes where it thought someone might
be hiding.
Sam knew that these wild horses were not good with
smell or tracks, so he and the others remaining became as
still as possible. For a minute, Sam thought that he was
caught, as the horse gazed over his head, but the horse did
not detect him. Sweat began to fall to the ground in
puddles from Sam's body; it was apparent that everyone was
afraid of these dark riders; their faces were never seen,
the only thing noticeable was a dark evil force. With no
luck, the riders moved on in search of others that they
could either capture or kill.
Jane asked Mr. Stewart to help her husband and the
others. He let Jane know that he could not risk the wizards
finding out about the underground city.
"You fool; all you care about is your precious city!
What about Baja and its people?" said Jane, as she began to
get angry.
After a quick and painful tongue-lashing from Jane,
Mr. Stewart decided to show her and the others an escape
route that would lead them to where her husband and the
others were. Whatever she and the others did, they must
never return back to the underground city, or ever tell
anyone where they had been. Jane quickly agreed and walked
away, leaving Mr. Stewart in awe and wondering if she would
keep her promise.
Jane and Samantha quickly went and woke up the other
soldiers and told them that their plans had changed, and
that they would be leaving now. Some of the soldiers began
to mumble, and others began to question Jane's and
Samantha's leadership.
"After all we have been through, you question my
leadership?" said Samantha.
One of the soldiers in the background shouted. "You
two are nothing more than mere women!"
Samantha quickly walked over and slashed out her
sword; ordering the solider to a one on one combat. But she
was quickly pulled off of the solider by Jane and asked
that she save all of her strength for the war ahead.
Reluctantly, Samantha obliged and let the solider know that
this confrontation was not over. So, in the end, all that
was left to save Sam and the others were Oscar, Samantha,
and Jane. The rest of the soldiers hung their heads low in
shame as Jane ripped them apart.
"You are not soldiers, you're nothing more than
cowards. All of you have enjoyed the fruits and pleasures
of Baja; now you leave her for demons to bleed her dry."
She gathered up her fighting gear and headed out of
the meeting area. Behind Jane came Oscar and Samantha,
consoling her, letting her know that they would be behind
her no matter what. After a pep talk amongst themselves,
Jane, Oscar, and Samantha headed to Patric's private room
to be led to the secret tunnel. Jane kept on looking back,
hoping one solider would change their mind, but no one did.
Everyone was too afraid to fight; they were tired, afraid
and weak.
Jane kept on walking; she was filled with anger and
envy of these soldiers, but there was no time to sulk, she
must save her husband. Baja could not be saved without him.
Mr. Stewart led Jane and the others through a long secret
tunnel; every once in a while she would see names and
messages scribbled on the walls of people who had died to
build the secret tunnel.
Just as she was about to take her eyes off of the
tunnel, she saw her mother's name, and for a moment she
paused, and began to rub the wall like a baby, soft and
gently with strokes going up and down the sides of the
name. Jane traced her mother's name with her fingers, as if
she was re-writing it all over again.
"Come, on we must go," said Oscar.
Jane quickly came to her senses, and as she was
leaving, all the names on the walls began to glow!
"This has never happen before," said Mr. Stewart.
"Then we must be doing something right," said Jane.
She quickly got her frame of mind back on track, and
was once again focused on saving her husband and the rest
of the crew. Yet, for a brief moment, she could feel her
mother's presence. As a sudden wind came through the
tunnels and kissed Jane upon her rosy cheeks, she knew her
mother was with her, and began to muster up even more
strength.
As the tunnel began to end, Mr. Stewart let Jane and
the others know that this was as far as he could take them;
the rest was up to them. Before he departed, he handed Jane
a disc object; it was glowing and had the secret codes of
Baja. Mr. Stewart told Jane to throw the disc into the air,
and the disc would open up into a traveling vessel that was
faster than the speed of light. Jane quickly thanked Mr.
Stewart, who then directed her to stay on the wooden pa
th
and that it would lead her to her husband. But they must
hurry; it was not safe to be in the forest at night. The
dark riders were constantly watching over the forest.
Jane and the others ran to the end of the tunnel,
looking back ever so often until Mr. Stewart and the tunnel
seemed to disappear into thin air. Soon Jane, Samantha, and
Oscar were out on the wooden path. Quickly they began to
run. To make up time, Oscar threw Jane and Samantha on his
large back and off they went. Oscar's legs were so powerful
and strong, he was going so fast that Jane and Samantha saw
nothing but tree branches in their faces.