The Orphan Wars (Book One) (22 page)

"Let's go buddy!"
said Bastilone.  "I've got you safely over my shoulder but you need to make sure you hold onto that sword as tight as possible!"

Bastilone began to walk across the makeshift magical bridge towards the Black Orb in the center of the lake.  Jaida flo
ated around, over and under the lake to examine if there were any monsters lurking about.  Jaida did not discover monsters but found something even more disturbing.  Jaida flew back to Bastilone and Nemeth to report her findings.

"I have some terrible news to report," said Jaida.  "There are dozens of dead bodies of children scattered about Serend Lake."

"That's all the more reason that we need to smash this Black Orb," replied Bastilone.  "Now please don't be the bearer of any more bad news.  I need to concentrate."

Bastilone continued to walk across the bridge towards the Black Orb. 
Whenever the bridge appeared to fade, Aria gulped down another Mana Potion and recast her spell to create the bridge.  After hundreds of feet of walking and seven recasts of Aria's spell, Bastilone finally stood in front of the Black Orb.

"We made it to the Black Orb buddy," said Bastilone.  "If you need to deliver the strike that destroys the Black Orb, then there's only one way I can think to do it.
  Hold the sword outward as far as you can.  And believe me when I tell you that you REALLY need to hold on to your sword tightly now."

"
I've got the sword pointed outward and I'm holding onto it as tightly as possible," said Nemeth softly.  "I don't have a lot of strength left, so please hurry and do what you need to do.  I trust you."

Bastilone picked Nemeth off of his right shoulder and flipped him over so he was carrying him by his feet.  Bastilone used his incredible strength to swing Nemeth's body towards the Black Orb like he was a hammer.  Nemeth's sword collided with Black Orb
causing a large crack in the exterior of the orb.  The Black Orb started to randomly change colors.  Bastilone hoisted Nemeth over his right shoulder again and turned around.  Nemeth sheathed his sword.  Bastilone started to run back towards the starting point of the bridge.  After reaching the half-way point on the bridge, the Black Orb exploded.  The makeshift bridge collapsed causing Bastilone and Nemeth to fall into the lake.  The force of the explosion caused the lake water to push both Bastilone and Nemeth onto the shore.  Luckily, Bastilone was unharmed and Nemeth did not receive any additional injuries.

"Master, the Black Orb has been destroyed!" exclaimed Jaida.  "Now we must get the help that you need."

"Let's get you back to your dorm room buddy," said Bastilone.  "You need a lot of rest to recover.  We can take care of you ourselves.  What do you think Aria?"

"It looks like there are enough healers out here
helping everyone else," replied Aria.  "Our attention needs to be focused on Nemeth right now."

Bastilone, Aria and Jaida brought Nemeth from Serend Lake all the way back to Nemeth's dorm room at Justile Dormitory.  Bastilone laid Nemeth down
on his bed.  Nemeth dropped his sheathed sword on the floor.  Bastilone removed the backpack he was carrying and the armor he was wearing and placed them against the wall of his dorm room.

"Thank you all for helping me," said Nemeth quietly.  "Jaida, please listen to me. 
I'm sorry for anything bad I said about you.  I doubted that we would be able to work together but luckily I was wrong.  If it wasn't for you, I would have never been able to accomplish half of the things I did today. I've only known you for such a short time but I already consider you my friend Jaida.  I consider you to all be my friends…"

"I consider you my friend as well master," said Jaida.  "Now please rest."

Nemeth began to fall into a deep sleep and started to snore lightly.

"You have known me for an even shorter time than Nemeth has,
" said Jaida.  "But I have a favor to ask both of you."

"What favor would that be?" asked Aria.

"Yes, what favor do you need from us?" asked Bastilone.

"I sense that there is more danger coming," replied Jaida.  "The evil that caused Nemeth to be in
such a terrible condition was not Terazhul or Vulpes.  The evil that put him into this horrible condition and almost killed him is called Xantil."

Bastilone and Aria turned towards each other simultaneously with a look of confusion on both of their faces.
  They had no idea what had happened to them today and had never heard of any of these names before.

"
I'll explain what happened to us," continued Jaida.  "We just need to take care of Nemeth at any cost.  When Nemeth recovers, I am going to need the two of you to join us in going after Xantil.  Nemeth considers you his best friends.  In fact, the only reason he went through all of this trouble and risked his life was because of the two of you.  He wants to escape from the academy again.  This time he wants the two of you to come along with him.  He wants to find his real family and your real families as well."

"I'll do anything to help Nemeth out," said Bastilone.
  "I'd like to find my real family and I'll help him fight Xantil."

"Consider me in as well," said Aria.
  "I'd like to see if I have a real family and I want to take on Xantil too."

"This is good news indeed," replied Jaida.
  "Thank you very much."

Bastilone, Aria and Jaida looked over Nemeth to make sure he was safe.  Jaida told Bastilone and
Aria as many details about the journey that she and Nemeth went on.  Bastilone and Aria both listened very attentively.

"That is quite the story," whispered Bastilone.  "
If Xantil is looking for gemstones, then we need to start looking for them as well before he can get ahold of them"

"Yes, Bastilone is right," whispered Aria.  "Our first priority is getting Nemeth back to full strength.  He's a true leader and he will know exactly what we need to do next. 
Jaida, I'm sure there's plenty more that you can tell us, but we need to get ourselves some sleep now also.  We'll stay here overnight here in Nemeth's dorm room."

"Thank you both so very much," replied Jaida.  "I will return inside Nemeth's body and
hope that my presence will accelerate the healing process."

Jaida circled around the room and
then entered Nemeth's body through the insignia of D'hal Natar on Nemeth's uniform.  Nemeth's body glowed momentarily.

"What have we gotten ourselves into?" whispered Bastilone.

"We've certainly got a lot of adventuring ahead," whispered Aria.  "I'm not sure where it's going to lead us.  And there are so many unanswered questions left.  One thing for sure is that Nemeth was right when he was talking about responsibility.  We're just kids and we're being forced to grow up way too quickly.  It's certainly a frightening thought."

"You're right about that," whispered Bastilone.  "Let's do what Nemeth always wants to do.  Let's get some sleep and escape our problems."

Bastilone went to lay down on the floor on the left side of Nemeth's bed.  Aria laid down on the floor on the right side of Nemeth's bed.

"Good night Bastilone," whispered Aria.
  "Sweet dreams.  I wish you would practice lucid dreaming.  I even got Nemeth practicing it."

"Good night Aria,"
whispered Bastilone.  "Sweet dreams.  Count me in for the next lesson on lucid dreaming."

Both Aria and Bastilone's minds raced with thoughts for at least a half hour before finally calming down and falling to sleep.  Littl
e did they know that their slumber would only be a short break from the troublesome things to come…

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Shane Rowling