“This looks familiar.” Sam stopped and looked around at the
trees. “I would swear we’ve been here before.”
Justin pulled a saddle from a tree. “We have been.”
“We’re back at our camp! Now we have to travel up the mountain
and try to find everyone else.”
“I wonder if they’re already at the village,” Justin mused. “And
if they’ve already talked to the person Chris told us about.”
“We won’t know until we find them,” Sam said. “We’ll make camp
now and start out bright and early in the morning.”
“I still say we should have stayed in our little clearing,” Justin
told her, wrapping his arms around her. “It was nice, surrounded by the
trees and the stream not far from it. We could have been happy.”
“For now, we could have been,” Sam agreed. “But eventually it
would become boring. Besides, you need to go home to country and become
king and rule it wisely.”
“And what will you do?”
Sam laughed. “I’ll go back to the forest and live out my life
as a petty thief.”
“You’re not a petty thief. You’ll have a much more interesting
life than that, trust me. And you won’t live in the forest. You’re coming
with me.”
“No, Justin, I never agreed to it. I said I’d go but I was under
the impression that I’d be your mistress, not your wife.”
“Sam, I’ve told you, I’m on a quest to find my bride, and I found
you.”
“And you could find someone ten times better than me to be your
bride.”
“Sam,” Justin began.
“Don’t do this, Justin,” Sam interrupted him. “Let’s just drop
this. I will not be your bride.”
“I’ll drop this for now,” Justin warned, “but we will talk about
this again.”
“I’m not-”
Justin silenced her with a kiss.
***
“We’ll be back in camp tomorrow,” Willow announced as they sat
around the fire. “We’ll take a break for a day, then go look for Sam and
Justin.”
A noise startled them and everyone jumped up.
“Nice protection spells, Willow,” Sam said, as she and Justin
walked towards the fire. “I couldn’t have done better myself.”
“Sam!” Willow exclaimed. “Where were you two? What happened?”
“Justin and I got lost.” Sam smiled at Justin as the sat down
with everyone else. “We went to check out a noise we heard, attacked some
bandits that had been following us, and were cursed by the leader.”
“So you two have been lost this entire time?” Josh asked.
“We found the camp at the base of the mountain a few days ago
and then set out to find you guys,” Justin said. “Did you guys meet the
witch?”
“Uh, yeah,” Willow replied.
“Learn anything?” Sam asked Josh.
“Yeah,” Josh told her.
“So, do you have a sister?”
***
“We’ll follow them for a little bit longer,” Kevin announced
to the others. “Then attack.”
“Why don’t we attack them now?” Nick asked.
“There’s a protection spell around their camp. Strong enough
so that I can’t break them.” His eyes narrowed. “Besides, we might be able
to gain some valuable information for Serpienta. And if we do, we can get
back in her good graces.”
“Do you really think we should be attacking them?” Howie asked.
“After all, Serpienta is totally evil and they don’t seem all that bad.”
“Howie, shut up,” Brain told him.
In the camp they were watching, Justin and Sam froze.
“Shit,” Kevin grumbled. “Now they know we’re here. Come on guys,
we’ve gotta get out of here.”
Silently, they blended into the darkness of the small grove of
trees they were hiding in.
***
“Someone’s out there,” Justin murmured. “They’re out there, watching
us. I can feel them.”
“Do you want to go check it out?” Sam asked.
“Yeah,” Justin said. “Can you place a protection spell on us
or something, though?”
“So you don’t get lost again?” Willow asked, smiling a little.
“We didn’t get lost,” Sam said. “A curse was placed on us and
that caused us to get lost.”
“If we’re going to go, we need to go now,” Justin told Sam.
She placed a protection spell and a blocking spell over the two
of them, then they walked towards the grove of trees.
***
High in the branches of the trees, the five men sent to kill
them watched as Sam and Justin searched the area.
“There are footsteps here,” Justin said to Sam, pointing out
three sets of footsteps in the dirt.
Sam kneeled down and traced them. “They’re the same people we
attacked that night. We’re going to have to be careful from now on. They’re
following us, for some reason.”
“How do you know who the footsteps belong to?”
Sam stood up. “The same presence that loomed in their camp looms
over this place.” She shivered. “I don’t like it here. There is evil afoot.”
“We need to get back to camp.” Justin took Sam’s arm.
“Wait.” Sam stared up at the trees. “Oh yes,” she mused. “We’ll
have to be very careful.”
***
“What did the witch say?” Sam asked, once she and Justin arrived
back in camp.
“What did you found out there?” Willow countered.
“We have to be careful,” Sam told them. “The same people who
cursed us are following us. There is something about their presence I don’t
like.”
“We’ll have to double the shields at night,” Willow said. She
glanced around at the guys. “And guards will be posted every night.”
“Now, what did the witch say?” Justin asked.
“Her name is Katta,” Chris told them.
“She told us, and I quote,” Willow began, “’A great evil faces
you, greater than any you have ever known. The only thing that will protect
you from this great evil lies at the ends of the land, in a time and place
only great leaders can find. This weapon, too, will destroy this great
evil’.”
Sam drew in a sharp breath. “The sword of Aeirn. Anything else?”
“’It will protect you against this great evil, but only if it
is guided by a strong hand, sharp mind, and pure heart. It takes two to
wield this, for it being wielded by one is something that is as evil as
the evil you face’,” Willow finished.
“Aerin’s sword, the sword of Mists,” Sam whispered. “And the
Stones of Light. But, that can’t be. They haven’t been used in centuries.”
“What’s so special about the sword and theses rocks?” Joey asked.
“They aren’t rocks, Joey. Oh no. They’re diamonds, as large as
a man’s fist. They gleam with a light so bright, so powerful, it can destroy
anything they holder of the stones wishes to destroy. And the sword...
The sword was used by our goddess herself, Aeirn. She forged it herself,
from a metal so pure it is indestructible. And, when the sword and the
stones are combined, they create a weapon of immense power.”
“How are they combined?” Joey inquired.
“It is very simple,” Sam told him. “The bearer of the sword,
typically male, and the holder of the stones, typically female, must be
in love. And they ride in battle together.”
“They don’t have to be touching or anything?”
Sam shook her head. “The bond between the mind, spirit, and heart
are enough. Which is why it is important that the two be in love.”
“Can it be wielded by one?” Justin asked.
“Yes, one person can hold both the stones and the sword. But
it is very dangerous, for that person must have a great love of themselves,
and none for man. It can only protect and destroy evil when it is carried
by two.”
“That’s why Katta told us we’d need you,” Willow whispered.
“What do you mean?” Sam asked.
“Katta- she told us we had to find you. You two will be carrying
the sword and the stones.”
“No.” Josh stood up. “They’re being separated as of now.”
“What are you talking about?” Sam asked Josh.
Chapter
Thirteen
The
Quest Index