Red Leaves and the Living Token - By Benjamin David Burrell Page 0,26

it, he’d bet she’d be willing to help look for him.

He watched Bedic and his granddaughter holding hands as they disappeared down the stone hallway. The image brought a wave of unpleasant emotion. What if he never saw his son again? What if he never got to hold his son’s hand? He quickly pushed the thoughts from his mind. He’d find Emret. He had too. But… What then…

He watched Bedic and his granddaughter turn the corner, then glanced back at the open door to Bedic’s office. That book! He didn’t like thinking about the fact that he’d been seeing things mystically disappear and then reappear in front of him. What was it, a hallucination? Not a pleasant thought. There had to be some rational explanation for it. He quickly slipped back into the room and over to the shelf where Bedic had put the book. With a quick scan, he located it, slipped it out and put it back onto the pedestal.

After a quick peek out the door to make sure he’d still be alone for a few more minutes, he hurried back to pedestal. On the way, his arm brushed past a sloppy stack of papers leaning precariously near the edge of the large desk. He turned in time to see them sliding off and made a vain grab at them, but it was too late. They hit the ground with a loud smack.

He cursed under his breath, then listened for a moment for any reaction outside the room. Nothing. He looked at the door then back at the book. The image of the Token was clear and unmistakable. What is this thing? He wondered as he traced his finger over it.

He flicked the cover open and flipped through the first couple of pages. Lots of small print. Then a full page illustration. He stopped. A beautifully executed pen and ink depiction of a small animal with bright red fur sitting in the underbrush of a thick pine forest. Next to it was a small plant with bright red branches and leaves. Below the plant and animal was an area of bright red soil. Red was the only colored ink.

He turned the page.

It was another illustration in simple pen and ink with accents of color. On one side, there was a person standing in the corner of the page holding the glowing white statue from the front cover. Across the page from that person was the small red plant with bright red leaves. Mountains and forests, drawn more as small icons, separated the man from the little plant.

Hander’s vision blurred unexpectedly. He thought he was passing out. Then as suddenly as the dizziness had come on his head was clear again. Only he wasn’t in the room looking at the book any more. He was standing in a pine forest holding the token up in front of him.

Oh no, he thought. This isn’t good. A portion of the forest began to glow in the pattern of a path starting where he stood and stretching out as far as he could see through the trees. In a jolting blur of motion, he shot forward along highlighted path. He moved faster and faster until the individual trees turned to streaks. The forest ended abruptly, and his body crumpled downward with inertia as he changed direction. He shot almost straight up, climbing above the jagged cliffs of a mountain range. He crested a peak descended on the other side as fast as he had climbed. At the base of the mountain, he hit the ground with a jarring impact and continued forward into another forest without pause. The trees blew by then abruptly stopped. He head spun, and he had the irresistible urge to vomit. After a moment, his head cleared. There below him was that same little plant with the red leaves that he’d seen drawn in the book.

As soon as he caught his breath, he was pulled backward, as though being pulled through a sheet of glass. And then he was back in the Cleric’s office standing in front of the book. He stepped back from it in reaction.

That was his cue to go, he thought. This wasn’t what he needed at all. He scooted over to the door and stepped out. The hallway was still empty. He took a deep breath and cursed again. He doubted he’d have this chance again. He had to see if there was anything else in there that’d be useful.

He returned to the book,

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