Peter Carrot-top

  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.