Chapter 5: Swords and Thorns

Chapter 5

               

                I can’t believe I just left.  I walked out of the door of my life, slamming it in Awesome’s face, Colby’s, and my parents’.  I just left.  I’ve actually dreamed of one day living on the Coastline, but never at the cost of my family and friends.  Rainbow Valley and the Crystal Clouds… I might actually find them.  But alone? 

I don’t need the map for this part of the journey.  I know my way to Briarwood, even at night.  It’s not very far, thank God, but I won’t get there until morning.  Shrouded Glade is the north east corner of the Sanctuary, and the only place higher than it is Snowhill.  I just have to head south and a bit to the east to reach Briarwood and the Hedges.  Plus, you can tell the way there by the trees.  There are so many different kinds in the Sanctuary.  All the inland woods and towns have your average woody trunk trees with branches and green leaves.  Snowhill’s trees always have their leaves lost because it’s always snowing there.  Sunstone Vale is quite different though- their trees have orange trunks that bend this was and that, making them low to the ground and easy to climb.  They also have the green leaves.  But Briarwood trees are my absolute favorite.  They’re hardly trees at all!  Just giant thorns sticking out of the ground, but the size of a tree.  They slightly curve toward the sky, and smaller thorns are like their branches.  They attach themselves just like smaller thorns on a rosebush. 

                I would run all the way there, but my bags are weighing me down.  I actually have before, in a race starting from Snowhill going all the way down to the Deadwood forest, south of Briarwood.  It was a lot of fun, and I came in 67^th out of 1,200.  Not bad, not bad at all.  There were people from the Seaside to Lakeshore, Sunstone to Snowhill.  It was a time when all of the Sanctuary came together- okay, not everyone.  But you get the idea.  It was a lot of fun.

                I am running, running away.  Away from my whole life.  Away from everything and everyone I know.  And as I enter Briarwood, the sky becomes darker, darker than night.  The giant thorns line the paths in, and I walk into the forest.  It would be nice if I had my Sugar Slinger, but I left it at Colby’s.  It really stinks, not being able to have a weapon besides the knife.  But whatever.  I’ll make do.

                So, after the small wood of thorns, I spot a break in the mountains.  The Hedges!  I’m so close, but as I look at the sky, the sun is rising.  I better get past the mountains- and fast.  Briarwood is not far from Shrouded Glade, and it’s a good place for criminals to run to.  I mean, that’s the first place the guards look.  But usually the run aways are too caught up in running that they run into a thorn and die.  I’m not saying that in a funny way, like, at all.  Because there’s a guy right in front of me.

                He’s on a giant thorn, his face and front pressed into the giant thorn.  I think he’s dead.  Well, I guess that’s pretty obvious.  He’s not moving, and he looks like he’s in a running position.  I slowly back away, and then look behind me to make sure I don’t make the same mistake he did. 

                I see something shiny on his belt.  A sword.  But should I take it?  Ugh.  If I can’t handle a dead body, I’ll never survive a week in a maze of bushes!  I step a bit closer, and then take another step.  A horrid smell reaches my nose, and I recognize it as blood.  I use one hand to clog my nose, but the smell is all around me, inside me, running around threatening me.  Taunting me.  I reach out with my free hand and touch him.  My hand makes a hasty retreat, feeling what feels like a moldy banana peel that’s been put in a compost pile.  This guy must’ve died ages ago, and no one bothered to come looking for him.  But I need that sword, and it’s between him and the sword.

                I reach for him again, and retreat again.  I look around for a stick, and then remember this is Briarwood.  No branches means no sticks.  I close my eyes and breathe in and out,  I reach out again and grab his shirt.  Using it as a guide, I tug on it and peel the guy off the thorns.  The sight is horrifying.  Blood covers his body, deep gashes in his shirt.  And there’s the sword.  I want to grab it, but I’m not sure I can.  It’s also covered in blood.

                I keep reminding myself that this is my new life, stealing until I regain my strength.  And my hidden identity.  I grab the sticks sword and pull it from his belt.  I raise it in the air in victory, and then I bolt away.  There is no way I’m going to wait until morning to get to the Hedges.

               

                The mountains aren’t that big; I can climb them with ease.  It’s a steep drop down, and the hedges are right below.  Right below are my dreams.

                I can see the three guards by a building.  There’s no way I can make a jump from here into the Hedges without breaking at least one bone, so I side down the slope and onto the ground.  The guards still haven’t seen me.  I inch toward them, looking for a way up the giant bushes.  Look, if you thought I could just jump up onto them, you’re wrong.  Very wrong.  The things are huge.  Taller than ten of me standing on top of each other.  I’m like, six feet tall or something.  Your average sized girl.

                So the guards still haven’t spotted me.  But they look very, very nervous.  Which gives me an idea.

                The building is built on the slope of a hill.  And, with a bit of encouragement, it looks like I can climb up it.  It leads up right above the Hedges, so I can probably jump down without hurting myself too bad.  And to distract the guards, simple. 

                “Grrr, grrr,” I do my best imitation growl.  The guards freeze.

                “Did you hear that?” One asks another.  He nods.

                “It sounded like a… a growler…” The second says.

                “There’s no way.  That thing can’t be a growler,” the third says.  The other two look at him.  “It sounds like the attack call of a snarler!”  Okay, I have no idea what a growler or a snarler is.  Geez, these guys are seriously really gullable.

                “What would our bosses say if we leave our post?” the first asks.

                “I don’t know.  But snarlers first bite off their prey’s leg and then rip off its limbs, one by one.  I don’t want to get eaten!”  That sells the guards, and then sprint away.  I knew it would be easy, but that was just pathetic.

                I approach the slope and look for a foot hole.  No such luck.  The first spot is just out of my reach.  I’ll need an extra boost if I want to get up.

                The pogo.  Of course!  I tap on the P on the charm bracelet and the charm transforms into a white pogo stick.  I hop on, and look at the controls.  I hear Colby’s words play through my head.  It’s really creepy how he can do this stuff.  Did he wire something into my head?!

                “Hey, Emedee.  Welcome to the settings on your pogo stick.  To start, simply press the small blue button in the left handle.  Your pogo will begin to automatically start,” Colby says.  I do as he instructs, and I begin to gently bounce.

                “Next, use your feet to put pressure on the foot grips.  You can bounce higher.  Just pretend like you’re jumping.”  I put my pressure on my feet, and I jump at least six feet in the air.

                “Hey!  There’s a girl over there!”  Uh, oh.   There’s the three guards.  Not.  Good.

                “Get her!  I’ll get the chief!” Two guards sprint towards me, and the other runs inside.  I try to jump higher, but I still can’t reach the first flat spot.

                “When you press down, press either the green, yellow, or red button on your pogo stick.  Green is jumping low, yellow medium, red high.  The purple button is in the middle section of your pogo.  That is the extreme button.”  Colby’s voice booms in my head.

                “Come back here!”  A giant guy stands beside the guard.  He must be the chief.  Not good.  I press the yellow button as I jump again.  Still not high enough.

                “If you can’t jump high enough, press the next button.  If it’s too high, press two next to each other at the same time.  This mixes the height, so you can make the jump perfectly.”

                “Give it back, Colby!” Awesome’s voice rings in the background.

                “In your dreams!  I’m trying to make the instructions!”  Colby yells back.  “This is a mess up.  Do not install into pogo.”  Great.  So now I don’t know how to work this thing since Colby installed the wrong instructions!  Ugh!  And I’m about to get killed before I even reach the Hedges! 

                The chief runs closer, an evil grin on his face.  I pull out the bloody sword and point it at him

                “Take one step closer,” I growl, “and I’ll slick your hand off!”  The chief looks at the guards, and they start laughing. 

                “Oh, wow, run away girl looks so scary!” A guard mocks.

                “What’s she going to do, put mascara on us?  Shower us with glitter?”  Another teases.  They all burst out laughing.  I frown.  No one will treat me this way, no one at all.  I set my bags down and swing the sword at the chief like I would my Sugar Slinger.  He stares at me in surprise when blood gushes from his arm.

                “You were saying?” I look at each guard, shooting daggers from my eyes.  “Who’s next, and I won’t go so easy on them.”  They all exchange glances.

                “I’ll go grab the tranquilizer darts!” the chief says.

                “I’ll go too!” all the guards say at the same time.  I roll my eyes.  That should buy me a few minutes. 

                I grab my stuff and hop back on the pogo.  This time I press the red and the yellow button, and I make it on the first flat spot.  The next jump is easier; I just need the yellow button.  By the time I reach the top, it’s only been less than a minute.  I look out into the hedges.  Beside me is a giant fire that lights the night sky, and the morning sky, so the guards can see.  There are also a few fires in the hedges as well.  Perfect spots to cook.

                And when the guards come back, I’m gone.  Gone into my new life, off the hill, and into the labyrinth.