Red Leaves and the Living Token - By Benjamin David Burrell Page 0,92
front of him.
"Where are we going?" Emret asked.
"We're going to meet up with your dad." Rinacht said.
"My Dad?" He put his feet down into the dirt, grinding them to a stop. "Wait!" He spun around to face Rinacht. "I'm not going back home!"
"Emret, we saw you with the Token earlier. We saw what happened to the forest around you. We're not taking you home."
"Dad saw that?" This was what he hoped for more than anything else. His father to believe along with him. To help him. To take him there himself. That is what he wanted.
"Yeah. A lot of people saw it. I'm supposed to get you and the Token and get out. Why would I've gone back to get the Token if your dad was taking you home?"
A smile stretched across his face. Everything was working out. He knew there had to be a way around the impossible situation he was in. And here it was. A surprise visit from Rinacht and his Dad.
"But what my mom?" Sinesh asked.
"Your father has a plan for that as well. I'll let him explain it once we get out of the camp."
Emret lifted his feet, and they took off again. "Let’s go!"
-
Moslin led the still fuming Handers through the identical rows of perfectly spaced canvas tents. A mass of Petra rock soldiers collected behind them, careful to keep their distance.
"They put us in a tent just up ahead when we first got here. They left him there when they took me. He should still be there.” She explained.
"Should?" He questioned.
They crossed the last row. She stopped in front of a large tent with two guards standing at the entrance.
"MOVE!” Handers commanded. He raised his black arm with the dark cloud swirling around it. The two soldiers stared at him then at each other. Then, reluctantly, they stepped aside.
Handers pushed the tent flap aside and stepped in. Moslin followed behind him. Inside there were two empty cots and wheel chair tracks in the dirt.
Handers screamed. “Where is he!”
Moslin traced the wheel chair tracks to the outer wall of the tent. “Look!” She shouted.
He ran up behind her. “Looks like he snuck out under the wall.”
“By himself?” Handers asked doubtingly.
“Oh you have no idea how obstinate your son can be.”
He glared at her. “He's thirteen. You can't blame all this on him.”
“I know. I know. She looked embarrassed. “It's just.”
"Just what?" He fumed.
She took a deep breath, giving herself a moment before she spoke. "Raj, I am so sorry. I never should have put you through this. It wasn't my choice to make."
Handers glared at her. "You know, I trusted you!"
She started to sob. "I don't know what came over me. I can only imagine what you've been going through. At the time I thought... I'm so sorry. It was so wrong." She paused.
“But listen. Something else has happened. Something you need to know about. When we find him, please, just give him a chance to explain.”
“Explain what?”
“About the Token.” She said.
He stared at her, not sure what to say. The reality of the Token wasn't something he could ignore or forget. As much as he'd like to go back home and pretend nothing had happened. Things had. But how was his son involved in any of this? He didn’t understand that. And frankly he didn't want his son involved. The Token had brought him nothing but trouble.
None of this would've happened if he had thrown it back into the sea. Nobody would be looking for him. No one would care.
"If you want to make up for what you've done. Help me get my son back home!" He said.
She stared at him for a moment, as though she didn't want wanting to agree. Then she gave in, nodded her head. "OK." She lifted up the tent wall. The tracks continued on the other side. "Lets follow the tracks."
-
Sinesh, Emret, and Rinacht approached the outer edge of the camp. They found a considerable amount of outer defenses; tangles of barbed wire stretched across barricades, and a few half dug trenches with a handful of soldiers.
The forest was with in sight. Rinacht reached into this pack and pulled out a bundle of cloth. "Here, you'll need this."
He handed it to Emret who took it with enthusiasm and began unwrapping it on his lap. As he did, shards of light shone out across the early morning clearing.
A few of the soldiers dug into the trenches noticed the light. "Hey, you. STOP!"