Chapter 27: Something’s Missing
Waves gently crashed on the rocks that made up the small island in the Parli bay. Few were currently in the tower now known as the second palace. One’s name was Oldo, and he sat alone in his office. A small wooden ball in his hand, he thought of what was possibly going on at that moment. Just seconds before he had arrived in his office, he had watched the mountains start to shrink back into the ground. The battle was over, his battle was over. He knew he could have gone and enjoyed a nice beating of a palace guard. Who knows, he might have even had a chance to knock one of his old friends around. The idea made him smile. It was the first thing to make him smile in some time. The job at hand was a much harder one than he had initially expected. When the thought first occurred to him to take all of the roses it seemed easy enough. The only one that was ever going to be a problem was the Mountain rose. He never actually knew the location for that one. In addition there was something else about that rose. He could no longer remember but he knew it was important. It did not matter now as he had seen with his own eyes the mountains shrinking.
Gyrd must have done well. Immediately his thoughts went to the roses that were upstairs. There should have been three up there. For an instant he was about to go up and check to make sure there really were three up there, but then he thought of all of the jail guards and cooks that were locked up on various floors. He felt safe about them being locked up. The only way he had gotten out was because the person who gave him food trusted him and left the cell door open while he got the food ready. Since Oldo rarely gave the new inmates food he knew they would not get out. This idea made him smile again.
It had been almost thirty minutes since Mith and Ludus had taken the rose. Luckily for them there was an exit out of the rose chamber so they were not in the mountains as they shrank. The exit had led them to the other side of the mountain they first entered. It was disguised as just another fake cave to mislead those looking for the rose. Once outside Ludus thanked everything he could find that he made it out alive. The temperature was already above normal and sand could be seen on the ground. It had taken another few minutes for them to get back to ground level. Ludus noticed that there were no more screams or yells. He hoped for the best but could not help feeling anxious.
Mith took the lead this time. She felt the pouch that Ludus had given her to wear the rose. He did not trust himself with it; he thought Mith was much more dependable. She felt more respect for Ludus now then she ever had before. Before they left Rerum together she thought of him as a bit of a jerk. What she did not know was that Ludus knew he was a bit of a jerk. It had only been several days, but they both were different people then they were back then.
Before long they had come across the town of Lwid. The sight frightened them even more than when they first arrived in Brickem. So many soldiers from both sides lay on the ground as if no one even cared about them after they fell. So many more were engaged in battle at the time of their freezing. It was clear to them now that the execution of the plan had been a complete failure. Not only did it look like none of the guards made it out but it looked like no one at all made it out in time. The first person Ludus recognized was Zing. She was standing near some fallen soldiers. She had a sword in her hand and appeared to be in deep thought when the rose was taken. It took a long time for them to get through ice-fill path, it was overcrowded. Not wanting to touch frozen people, they strained themselves to get by them and their swords to get into the clearing. Ludus had been keeping tabs on who he saw frozen. It pained him to see Bern and Lapp so close to the border.
Upon seeing them Mith took the rose from the pouch and tried something she had wanted to try all week. She waved the rose all around them, touching them with it, tapping them with it. Nothing worked, it was useless. The only way to get these people back to normal really did rest in defeating Oldo. Mith wished she could go back and place the rose where it was but she knew that would never work. By the time they got back it would be hard to find the saucer.
Ludus looked at the face of every person he could find. He noticed something in all the faces, fear. It was as if they knew that they were about to freeze in time. To his surprise the inmates really did not look that different from any one else. They were just regular people like he was. Their bodies similar, their faces similar, he could not see even one difference besides what they wore. He turned in the direction of Mith and saw her trying to drag someone across the ground. She was having no luck; all of the frozen people were extremely heavy. He went over to her.
“Mith, there’s no point, they will not move.”
She let go of the frozen person and looked about hopelessly. “What happened? Why did nobody make it?”
“Not so fast, I haven’t seen Mitchum. He may have made it out.
The boundary had fallen; the trees of the Royal were only yards away. They made it into the forest and started back toward the palace. Nothing would have kept them in the mountains now that the desert was about to settle in. Hoping to find someone familiar, their heads were on a swivel to see as much as they could. Hope was all they felt like they had left now. The rose hanging from Mith’s neck did not mean much now that there was a possibility of being the only ones left to fight for Parli.
The trees continued their usual noise that sounded like chatter. This time neither even mentioned it, really they did not even notice. They kept with the left path as they did last time and could tell they were nearing the palace. Their heads held low, they thought of what could have been. Everything could have been much better. If the plan had worked then Oldo would soon be defeated. Mith thought about how everything would be alright after Oldo was defeated. She tried to remember if there was a plan for after they got the rose but she could not remember one. She started to believe that none had ever been made up. What happened from then on had to come from Mith and Ludus. That did not feel right for Mith, leaving the fate of an entire island up to two fourteen year olds who did not even know the history of their home until just a couple of days before. Mith hoped that the king and queen would still be at the palace, but she was starting to doubt their ability to come up with strategies, especially after the debacle of the last one. She was about to ask Ludus if he had a plan when he suddenly let out a yell.
Ludus jumped back, staring transfixed at a tree nearby. Mith looked at the tree and also felt a wave of shock. The tree appeared to have a face. Eyes and a mouth could be seen as holes in the bark where the trunk showed through. At first it seemed just a coincidence, if the eyes had not blinked and the mouth had not closed and then reopened.
“Mith, Ludus, you have to hurry.”
Ludus was still backing away and was almost to the trees on the other side when he realized they could also have faces and returned to the center of the path. Mith was intrigued and got closer to the tree.
“How do you know us?”
“The system, my dear.” The tree boomed.
“What’s that?”
“No time for explanations, you have to hurry and get the sword before those other humans do.”
Mith’s eyes narrowed: “What other people? And how do you know about the sword?”
“Those people in yellow that came by just before you. They talked of Oldo, the ex-head guard. They talked of taking the sword; you have to find it before they do.”
Mith could tell there was distress not only in the tree’s words but also on its face. “I’m sorry but nobody knows where the sword is. And I would not worry about anybody in yellow. They cannot get to the palace while thinking ill thoughts about it.”
The trees face moved from left to right just as a person shakes their head. “No, they got to the palace . . . they have a rose, the magic counteracts the magic of the region. You must find the sword before they do. You must know that inside the sword is Ijnus’s full magic. If the wrong people get that it is all over for all of us.”
“A rose? That must be Oldo. Alright, we’ll try to find it, but it
will be hard.”
“Wrong, wrong, Oldo was not with them. They looked dangerous, hurry, darling.”
Mith thanked the tree and grabbed Ludus to go. He looked sick from watching the tree talk. Mith felt a jolt of courage inside of her. Slowly a plan was formulating in her head. Shortly after leaving the tree it called to them.
“Wait, wait, I must tell you something.”
Mith went back to the tree, leaving Ludus where he was. “Yes, what is it. Is it about the sword?”
“No, no, I have news of Mitchum.”
Mith felt excited again. With Mitchum everything would become easier. “Where is he?”
“I, I do not know. I just have to tell you something I was going to tell him. I was going to tell him that the rulers of Parli only sent him as general to stall for time in the battle. They have fled to the desert in the south and wanted to make sure everyone but who they were taking with them were out of the palace. It is terrible, terrible that Gai was sent to battle for no reason, terrible.”
Mith’s excitement fell to the ground. She had trusted the king and queen and now felt horrible at what they had done to Mitchum. He was sent into harm’s way just so they could get out with nobody seeing them. Now there would be nobody in the palace to help them find the sword. Mith thanked the tree and left, feeling worse than she had before. There was still a glimmer of hope inside of her, she did not see Mitchum in the battle and hoped beyond hope that he had escaped and was waiting for them somewhere. She explained to Ludus what the tree had said and led the way toward the palace. Her courage was still there, but it was now joined by anger. This mix of emotions made her feel like she was able to take on whoever was in the palace looking for the rose. Whoever you are, she thought, you better be ready because we are coming to take the sword and end this once and for all.