Mr. Phinnly had rushed over into the bedroom and returned with a bag big enough to carry one pair of clothes and some food. The whole time he was mumbling to himself and repeating things that Bart couldn’t quite make out.
“Mr. Phinnly, sir, what is going on?” Bart asked starting to become a little afraid.
“You aren’t supposed to be here,” he said, stuffing food and water in the bag.
“Why not?” Charlotte asked. “What’s happening?” Charlotte was just as confused as Bart was.
“They will be looking for you here,” he said frantically, rushing back into the bedroom.
“Wait, who will be looking for us?” Bart said.
“The Prince and his henchman, his henchman of course,” he yelled from in the bedroom. Bart looked to Charlotte who had no answers for him. Bart was tired of hearing of this Prince guy and not knowing who he was. He didn’t even know why he was after Bart.
“The only safe place in Crestcon is the castle, and that’s where you need to be, the castle I said.” He came out of the bedroom and shoved the bag into Bart’s chest. “It’s a three day journey through the Crestcon wood and you will need all the food and water you can get, all the food and water I say.” Bart tried to speak up but he stopped him. “Don’t stop to look back, just keep running. I have included a map of Crestcon wood in the bag, and you will need it.” Bart was confused as to why he even needed a map. The castle didn’t look that far away.
“The castle is just on the other side of the forest, right?” Bart asked. “I mean I can see it from the hill by the market.”
“No boy, no,” Mr. Phinnly said while scratching his head. “Crestcon Wood, just like many places in Zathya, is enchanted, enchanted is what I said. Once you are in, you can lose your way if you don’t already know the way. No one can make it through the woods the first time without help. If you try, you will never make it out, never I say. Things change in the woods.” Bart didn’t like the sound of that at all. Getting lost in the woods was not an option. If he and Charlotte got lost how would they ever get out? What if no one knew where to look? “Now the map has the path to the castle on it, but the path is only visible when it is in your hands, girl.” Charlotte seemed a little shocked that he pointed at her and not Bart.
“Why me?” she asked.
“Just because, now go before it’s too late,” Mr. Phinnly responded angrily. Before Bart could say anything he was ushering them out the door. “Remember, don’t look back,” Phinnly repeated. Just when Bart was about to just give up and start running with Charlotte, they heard chatter coming from down the road. They couldn’t make out what was being said but Mr. Phinnly clearly didn’t like the situation. “Too late,” he whispered and then he grabbed the two friends and pulled them back in the house. “Under the bed, and don’t say a word, a word I said. I can hide you as long as you do not move or make a sound. Not even the slightest movement.” He led them into the room and they got under the bed. Bart could feel Charlotte quivering and he knew she was probably scared out of her mind. Within the next two minutes there was a loud knock at the door. “Evening gentlemen, how can I help you?” Mr. Phinnly said politely as the door creaked open. Bart heard footsteps and then he could see feet outside the bedroom door standing by the dining room table. Whoever it was, they were wearing black penny loafer dress shoes.
“Thank you for inviting us into your home, Jarick,” said a man who Bartholomew instantly knew by the sleazy tone of his voice. He thought to himself Mafortian.
“Always a pleasure Mafortian, always a pleasure,” Mr. Phinnly said. “Is there something that you are looking for tonight?”
“Interesting choice of words, old man,” Mafortian said in reply. All Bart could see was the movement of feet around the table but he heard others moving into the room. He counted at least ten other pairs of feet that were visible in the dining room but he didn’t know how many were actually present. “We were wondering if you had seen a boy around the market today. A young boy who isn’t from around here. He would’ve been with a young girl who also isn’t from around here.” Bart hated Mafortian’s voice. It angered him every time he spoke.
“New ones? No can’t say that I have, haven’t seen any new ones today,” he replied.
“I see,” Mafortian said. “That’s very interesting to hear seeing as the owner of Dragon burger said he saw two teenagers leave the market with you not four hours ago.” Bart knew they were goners now. Mafortian hadn’t come to look for Bart or find out if Jarick Phinnly knew where Bart was. He came to capture Bart. He knew the entire time Bart was here. Now it was just a matter of time.
“He must’ve been mistaken,” Mr. Phinnly said, still sounding calm.
“If he was, then you won’t mind if we search the house.”
“Be my guest.” Bart wasn’t sure why he said it was okay to search the house, but it set him on edge. Then suddenly Bart heard his voice in his head. He knows you are here, we don’t have a choice. Whosoever walks through that door, blast them and then run. I hope you have some training. I will hold off as many as I can for as long as I can. DO NOT HESITATE. Bart looked at Charlotte and he instantly knew that she heard him as well. They nodded at each other and silently got from under the bed. If they were going to attack they needed to be comfortable.
“Search the house,” Mafortian said. Bart could see his back to him since the door was wide open. He wanted to attack right then. This was the guy responsible for his mother’s predicament and he had a chance to even the score. However, he knew he would have little success if he did attack. So he just slid to the left and out of sight, waiting for the unsuspecting victim to walk through the door. Within seconds a man wearing all black with a sword on his back walked through the door. Before he had time to scream out a warning Bart attacked by thinking wind. However, the wind was weak and the man only went back a couple feet and then drew his sword.
“He’s in here,” he screamed and soon he was backed by all the men trying to flood into the small room. Charlotte backed up against the wall, as did Bart not knowing what to do next. He heard some fighting going on outside the room, which he assumed to be Mr. Phinnly fighting Mafortian. Bart knew Mr. Phinnly would be a goner soon and then their chances would be gone with him. He looked at Charlotte and they silently agreed to go out fighting. Bart thought about what Jason had taught them and if he ever needed it to work, now was the time. He shot his hand forward and thought about the door shutting and to his surprise it shot closed, slamming one guy in the face. Bart was in the room now with about seven enemies slowly advancing. He was fresh out of ideas and the door shot back open revealing a man who was extremely angry with a bloody nose. That’s when it happened. The wall that Bart and Charlotte were standing against completely vanished, dropping Bart and Charlotte out of the house and on their backs. Bart was too disoriented at first to realize what was going on. He heard fighting and loud cracks and pops but he didn’t know who was fighting who. Was Mr. Phinnly fighting everybody by himself? He couldn’t be. He was too old to handle all those guys and Mafortian. Then Bart rolled over and looked up to see three men standing outside the house. Bart had never seen these men before or at least he didn’t remember them. The one in the middle was the tallest. He was wearing a very dark blue cloak that had silver trims on the bottom. His hood was up and he was moving his hands in weird ways. Clearly he was wielding but Bart couldn’t see what. The man to his left was much shorter and he was wearing a dark red cloak with gold trim and his hood up as well. He was just standing there watching. There was one more to the far right that was just as short and was wearing a dark green cloak with gold trim and his hood was also up. He too was just standing there watching something going on behind Bart. Then the one in the green began to speak in Bart’s mind. Don’t waste any more time Bartholomew, get up and run. Bart wanted to ask questions, but he knew he didn’t have time.
“Charlotte let’s go,” he screamed and they got up and started sprinting. They ran right past the three men and didn’t even look back. They continued running until they were in the forest but there wasn’t enough time to celebrate. They could hear people chasing after them. Bart didn’t know which was to go but that didn’t matter. He kept sprinting as fast as he could with Charlotte not too far behind. But within minutes he came face to face with a couple of Mafortian’s men. They were dressed in all black. Bart stopped dead in his tracks and looked at the men who all started laughing. There was about five of them total and Bart knew if he wasted anymore time, there would be more soon. “We can take them,” he whispered softly to Charlotte while trying to think of a plan.
“Are you sure about that?” Charlotte asked as she looked around at the five men closing in.
“We don’t really have a choice now do we?” Bart said as he and Charlotte started to back up. If they were going to do something, it had to be right away. “On three,” Bart added. Charlotte nodded and they continued to slowly back away. Then she screamed out.
“Three!” All the five men looked confused but before they could react, both Charlotte and Bart attacked. Bart of course went to his most comfortable form of attack, which was the wind. He aimed it at the guy on the far left and used the wind to lift him up and toss him at least twenty yards back. Then he looked to the right and saw Charlotte use the ground, which completely caught Bart by surprise. He didn’t even know she had been practicing that skill outside of their initial training. The ground under two of the attackers to the right formed a small crater, which they fell into, and then Charlotte used the dirt all around them to effectively bury them up to their necks. Bart didn’t have time to congratulate her or gawk at her accomplishment because the other two were closing in and closing in fast. Bart and Charlotte had lost the element of surprise and now they were in a full-blown fight. One of the two somehow created a sword out of thin air and charged Bart, while the other covered his body in mud and then it turned to armor.
“That’s not even fair!” Charlotte screamed as Bart tried to use the wind against the one with the sword. The opponent leaped in the air and began dodging Bart’s strikes easily. The armored enemy threw something at Charlotte but she quickly used the dirt again to her advantage making a wall of mud appear before her. If the wall had been any less thick, she would have been dead but the mud absorbed the knife that was flying towards her. The man with the sword was closing in on Bart and he was running out of ideas until he saw that he was standing under a tree branch. He instantly stopped backing away and thought wind, which came to his aid. As he wielded the wind he thought knives and as he did the wind turned into hundreds of sharp small knives. He threw half at his opponent and the other half at the large branch. The enemy quickly used the ground to build a shield against the knives but when the shield lowered Bart had already thrown the giant branch using the wind. The foe didn’t have enough time to move again as the branch connected with his chest sending him back a good ten feet and pinning him under it. Then Bart used the dirt to sink each end of the branch into the ground forcing the man to be a prisoner under the branch. He turned to watch as the goon in armor attacked Charlotte who tripped over a twig. That twig saved her life, however, because had she been standing there when the guy swung his sword, she would be a goner. Bart immediately focused on the earth and a root popped up right in front of the attacker. The enemy saw the root and laughed as he turned and looked at Bart.
“A root, boy?” he bellowed. “Is that really the best you can do?” Bart was fresh out of ideas but the root distraction gave Charlotte enough time to retaliate and regain the element of surprise. She hopped up and motioned her hands, which brought the root out of the ground. It was at least fifteen feet long at this point and she wrapped it around the surprised assailant. Bart didn’t hesitate to use the wind to shove him over and Charlotte then used the root to drag him to the tree and tied him up. Without lingering for even a second, the two friends took off sprinting. Charlotte and Bart kept running, not stopping at all to marvel at their success until they were long gone and far from the house and all their pursuers. They stopped inside a small cave to gather themselves.
“How did we do that?” Bart asked as the two friends looked around the cave to see if it was secure. “I mean there was no hesitation, we just did it!” Charlotte was in shock also as she couldn’t believe they did half the things that they did out there.
“I can’t believe it!” she hollered. “I wanted to build a wall of stone but the mud didn’t change but it was still exhilarating!”
“Yeah, the fact that you got the wall to come up period is crazy!” Bart said, still astonished by the fact that he got knives to appear and she got a wall to pop up out of the ground.
“I know, right? I guess it’s because of the adrenaline. In the heat of the moment, you don’t have time to doubt yourself.” Bart thought about it, and it made sense. The fact that they didn’t have time to question their abilities probably played a big part in their success.
“Well now we know what we’re capable of,” he said smiling.
“Yeah, but we can’t get ahead of ourselves. The first three were caught off guard. Who knows what would’ve happened if they knew we were good.” Bart knew Charlotte was right. If those guys had known better, they would’ve demolished them. Bart had trouble with one guy, and they both struggled with the last guy. If he had to deal with two or three he would probably be captured right about now.
“You’re right,” he said. “We just have to be careful and keep training.” Charlotte nodded in agreement and then sat down on a rock.
“We should probably get some rest,” she said. Bart agreed. They were about to go to sleep when all the commotion started at Mr. Phinnly’s house and now after their first real fight, Bart felt drained.
“I’ll take the first watch,” he said. Charlotte looked beat and he knew she needed a lot of rest also. Plus she had already done enough for him, he felt like he owed her one. He looked outside and saw that it started to rain pretty heavily. “Hopefully, they’ll stop looking in the rain,” he said but when he turned to look at Charlotte, she was already fast asleep. He smiled and looked back out at the rain. All he could think about was how good it felt to take on some thugs and survive. His confidence was elevated. He stood up and stared out at the rain. They wouldn’t find him in here but if they did, he felt good. He felt like he could take them all. “Let them come.”
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