The Search for Artemis - By P. D. Griffith Page 0,50
to contain it.
“You’re the winners,” said Professor Tzu, who started to chuckle as he watched his two students erupt in excitement, their laughter spilling out of them as they hugged and jumped up and down in gratuitous overexcitement.
“What did we win?” Landon asked as he gasped to inhale between laughs.
“Yeah, what did we win?” Celia added.
“A bag of tasty treats,” Professor Tzu answered as he giggled. Professor Tzu was known to be a bit eccentric.
Celia and Landon took their small bag of candy and began toward the Gymnasium. They continued to laugh hysterically until they reached the Atrium, where they realized they were attracting a lot of attention.
Both took a few deep breaths and regained their composure. They then decided to head back to their respective rooms to change out of their wet clothes.
“So I thought I was supposed to find the ring,” Landon started as they entered the Atrium’s northeastern staircase leading up to the dormitories in the Student Tower.
“I know, but I had to think quickly. I was planning on letting you find it once you were in the water. I figured the swimming might distract you enough to let you concentrate and find it.” Celia looked over at Landon, who still had a large grin plastered across his face. “I knew it was there before we got in, but when Dr. Brighton caught us playing around, I made it come to me as we got out. It was the only way I thought might get us out of trouble.”
“Good thinking. It worked beautifully.”
• • • • •
Landon stumbled into the shower at six in the morning on Saturday, hoping the water would wake him up to be coherent when he met with Dr. Brighton for his first private training session.
When he got outside, a thick fog blanketed the valley, making it difficult for him to even see the woods in the distance, but as he got closer and closer, he soon recognized the silhouette of Dr. Brighton standing stoically just before the wood’s edge.
“Good morning, Landon,” he said as Landon approached.
“Good morning, sir.”
“Please follow me. It isn’t far to where we’re going.”
Landon obeyed without question. This was the first time Landon had set foot in the woods since his arrival at the Gymnasium. He found it magnificent and menacing at the same time. As it was autumn, the leaves of the oaks and maples had turned from their usual greens into an array of golds, reds and oranges. It was beautiful, but some of the trees had already shed their entire coat of foliage. At times, bare, jagged branches jutted in and out of the fog, giving the forest a sinister quality.
Dr. Brighton set an unbelievable pace, making it difficult for Landon to keep up. He seemed to navigate the forest with the utmost ease, gliding between the trees with supernatural agility, while Landon stumbled over fallen sticks and slipped on wet, rotting leaves that had accumulated on the forest bed. Soon Dr. Brighton had led Landon to an inconspicuous rock face on the northeastern edge of the valley.
“You are the first student I am taking into this place. It is very special to me, so please be respectful,” Dr. Brighton said as Landon confusedly stared at the solid wall of stone. What is he talking about? Landon thought.
Then, without warning, Dr. Brighton widened his legs, securing his stance, and with a forceful motion of his arms, a large boulder in front of them rolled aside, revealing a doorway into a hidden garden.
Landon’s jaw hung open as he entered the secluded paradise. It was a splendid Japanese garden. Small Japanese maples, cherry trees and interestingly contorted junipers sprinkled the landscape, scattered between lush patches of colorful foliage. Rocks and boulders appeared meticulously placed throughout to give it a sense of nature in its more untouched form. A small creek snaked through the garden, depositing water into a tiny lily pond toward the center of the enclosure. The water babbled over the stones, setting a calming atmosphere. An arched bridge extended over the creek, and massive stone lanterns, water basins and shaded arbors were interspersed throughout the landscape. As they continued down the narrow path, a three-story pagoda emerged from the fog. It looked straight out of Japan, as if the ancient structure had been shipped from the Pacific, or that by some magic or technology, Dr Brighton and Landon had been transported half way around the globe when they passed through the stone entry.