CHAPTER NINE: THE RESISTANCE STRONGHOLD

Morio, Jarred and Jasmine stayed on Dread Mountain for a week. During this time, the companions gathered supplies and rested. When it was time for them to leave, Prin and Gla-Thon were sad to see them leave and after a few tears, mostly from Prin, they headed for the Maze of the Beast on the far coast of Deltora.

The journey began to run smoothly at first, but when the companions entered one of Deltora's forests, they began to jump at ever small noise and shadow. They all felt as though they were beginning watched.

'Even though I couldn't wait to be amongst trees again, now I cannot wait to leave,' Morio muttered. 'This place gives me the creeps.'

'What do the trees say?' asked Jarred.

'They tell me nothing,' Morio replied sadly. 'They know that we are here, yet they remain silent.'

The friends continued on their way in silence before jumping as a scared, young voice screamed, 'Somebody please help us!'

Without hesitation, the travellers ran towards the screams of a little girl, which, in turn, led them to a wide river. Two little girls, no older than five, were in the river, both clinging to logs. The girl in the blue dress was screaming out to her twin, Marie, who appeared to be unconscious.

'Morio, you grab the girl in blue, while I get Marie!' ordered Jarred as he began to run towards the river. He stopped when he saw that Morio wasn't moving.

'What are you waiting for?' he demanded to the teenager.

'I cannot swim,' Morio muttered quietly, eyeing the water hesitantly.

'I'll go then,' Jasmine snapped, running into the water and swimming for the twin in blue while Jarred swarm towards the pink dressed twin. Morio watched hopelessly on from the shore. He watched as Jasmine took hold of the blue twin, while Jarred went under water to retrieve Marie.

Jasmine ignored Morio as she carried the little girl out of the cold water and into the forest. Morio couldn't help but glare at her. He knew that she was angry at him for not going into the water to save the little girl, but it wasn't his fault. He couldn't help it if he didn't know how to swim. Thankfully, Jarred was more mature than his daughter and held no grudges.

Morio joined him as he laid Marie down on the ground and began feeling for a pulse.

'She's gone,' he muttered sadly, before looking around. 'What I don't understand is why children this young would be playing around a river with no supervision.'

'Maybe they were abandoned?' Morio suggested quietly. 'Maybe they are trying to survive like I had to as a child.'

'If that is so, we'll have to find somewhere to take the other little girl. We cannot just leave her alone. It is too dangerous. Go and tell Jasmine what has happened.'

'It may be best if you go,' Morio muttered, sounding bitter. 'I think she is mad at me because I cannot swim.'

'Jasmine wouldn't be mad at you over something like that,' said Jarred. 'At least I hope she wouldn't.'

'Either way, I've done something wrong. You go and tell her and the child. You'll have better luck at comforting them than I. I shall remain with Marie.'

Jarred nodded his head and went into the forest to his daughter and the crying girl.

'I'm sure everything will be alright Ida,' Jasmine said comfortingly to the little girl.

'Then why does your father come here without Marie!' Ida cried, noticing Jarred and his grim appearance.

'Father, where is Marie?' Jasmine asked disheartened knowing that something bad had occurred.

'I'm afraid Marie is gone,' Jarred said quietly, bending in front of Ida. 'I am so sorry, little one.'

Ida burst out crying and flung herself into Jarred's chest. She then gasped and went still as an arrow flew out of the bushes and hit her in the back.

Jasmine looked around and her eyes fell upon a hooded figure in amongst the trees. Outraged that someone could murder a child, she drew her sword and charged at the figure, catching him unaware. She leaped upon him, forcing him to the ground and breaking his arm.

'Stop, Jasmine! It's me, Dain!'

Jasmine froze and watched as the figure took off his hood.

'You must kill her now!' he ordered. 'She is not real! She is an Ol!'

'Ol?' Jasmine blinked not knowing what he was talking about.

Growling slightly, Dain managed to get her off him and charged at the little girl in Jarred's arms. He plunged his dagger into the right side of her back. Father and daughter alike then watched in astonishment as the body became nothing more than a white mass, before disappearing.

Silence followed. Dain felt to the ground, exhausted, and holding his broken arm which was giving him a lot of pain. Jarred and Jasmine, however, were shocked at what they had just discovered.

Jasmine suddenly gasped. Dain and Jarred looked at her horrified face.

'If Ida was an Ol, that means Marie was probably one too!' she whispered. 'Morio!' she suddenly yelled before tearing off back to the river, with Jarred not far behind.

As they got closer they got here Morio gasping and Kree screeching. Moments later, when they were out of the forest, they saw Morio being choked by a huge Ol in its true form. It had Morio by the throat holding him high in the air. Morio, for his part, desperately tried to pry away the Ol from his throat, but his efforts began to diminish as he slowly began to lose consciousness. Jarred and Jasmine, however, were still determinedly trying to kill the creature. Jasmine froze when the Belt of Deltora became as cold as ice. It had never done anything like that before. She glanced at Morio and saw that his eyes were closed. She was now starting to panic. If they didn't kill the creature soon, Morio would be dead. She only assumed that he was still alive because the Ol still had hold of him.

'Stab it through the heart!' Dain yelled out as he hurried over to them. 'The only way to kill an Ol is by stabbing it through the heart!'

'I have already stabbed its heart!' Jasmine snapped, before the Ol hit her sending her backwards.

'That's because an Ol's heart is on the right, not the left!'

With this knowledge in mind, Jarred ducked an attack before sending his sword through the Ol's heart. It screamed and dropped the unconscious Morio. Before it disappeared it showed the illusions of Marie and an animal before disappearing.

'It's a good thing you stopped it when you did,' Dain muttered, bending down to check on Morio. 'If we had taken any longer, Morio wouldn't have made it. Quickly, let's warm him up. An Ol attack chills you to the bone. If he is not tended to, he may still die. He is very weak.'

Jarred nodded his understanding and gathered his young companion in his arms. He then led the party into the forest where Jasmine made a fire and began to set up camp.

'Will he be alright?' Jasmine whispered, looking down at Morio's pale face.

'He should be warm so one would think that he will be,' Dain replied as he put his arm into a sling while Jarred wrapped Morio into a blanket. 'Morio is a fighter. If anyone can pull through, it is he.'

'Thank you for your help, Dain,' said Jarred. 'If you had not shown up, we would all be dead by now.'

'Yes, thank you, but where did you come from?' asked Jasmine.

'I was heading back to the Resistance's Western Stronghold when I saw the Ols – the shape shifters from the Shadowlands - and I decided to follow them,' Dain answered. 'Just when I was about to strike them, you appeared and they tore off after you. My guess is that their plan was to separate you and then take you out one at a time. If that had happened, I don't think you would have stood a chance. That was evident with the Ol before.'

'I'm impressed,' Jasmine said, smiling over at Dain. 'You're pretty clever, aren't you?'

'I have Barda to thank for that,' Dain replied with a fond smile on his face. 'He is the one that taught me nearly everything I know. Anyway, I better be going, and now that you know about them, watch out for Ols.' He stood and turned to leave.

'Dain, wait,' Jarred called out after the dark haired teenager. Dain stopped and looked at the blacksmith. 'It is dangerous out here, and you cannot defend yourself with a broken arm. Besides, it's late and you should get some rest.'

'Thanks, but the stronghold I am travelling to is not too far away from here,' replied Dain, smiling.

'Maybe, but I suggest you stay here with us, just to be safe.'

'Thank you, but you should know that it is that kindness you hold that Ols take advantage of,' Dain warned, sitting back down.

For the rest of the night, Dain explained Ols to the father and daughter. He told them of the Grade One Ols, like Ida and Marie, who could transform into any living creature, but are very cold and cannot consume any food or drink. He explained that they are the easiest to discover for what they really are. He told them that they have a mark of the Shadow Lord in plain sight, like the assumed birthmark under Ida and Marie's left eye. Another way to discover if something is an Ol was not to let it out of your sight for three days, as it must take a break from the shape it has taken, which is known as the Tremor. When they take their break they are known to falter and shimmer.

He then proceeded to inform them of Level Two Ols, who were harder to recognise has they could successfully pretend to consume food and were able to hide their marks. They could also make their body produce heat like any other living creature, but they still had to go through the Tremor, even though they could hold it slightly longer than a Grade One Ol.

Finally, he discussed Grade Three Ols who were able to transform not only into living creatures, but into non-living objects. They are able to hold their disguise a very long time without a break, making them tremendously difficult to recognise. To add to the difficult situation, they are almost always are warm, eat and drink, and don't change often. They can also hide the mark almost at an unrecognizable form. Even worse, Grade Three Ols do not go through the tremor at all.

-THE PRINCE OF DELTORA-

The next morning, Jarred, Jasmine and Dain were relieved to see that Morio was alright. As they were making breakfast, they turned to him quickly as he groaned and slowly opened his eyes. He started at them all uncomprehended, at first, but he soon sat up abruptly and looked around, eyes wide.

'Wh – what happened to that thing?' he asked.

'It's okay. The Ol is dead,' Jasmine said soothingly.

'What's an –' Morio broke off coughing. His throat was so sore.

'Here, drink this tea,' Jarred ordered in a fatherly way.

He was about to hand it to Morio when Dain stopped him.

'Here, put some of this in the tea. It will help.'

He handed Jarred a small bottle.

'Quality Brand Homemade Organic Nurturing Energising Yummy,' Jarred read off the label. 'That's a mouthful to remember.'

'Maybe, but the honey works wonders,' Dain said cheerfully.

Jarred did as the Resistance boy suggested and put some honey into Morio's tea. He then handed it to Morio who eyed it suspiciously.

'Morio, drink the tea,' Jarred ordered. 'If Dain wanted you dead he wouldn't have helped us defeat the Ol that had hold of you.'

Figuring that Jarred had a point, Morio took a sip before pulling a face.

'That's disgusting!' he said, putting his drink down. 'How can you drink that stuff?'

'Tea doesn't taste that bad,' Jasmine commented.

'Then you can have mine!'

Shrugging, Jasmine took his cup and began to drink it. A smile appeared on her face.

'Mmm, that honey makes it takes a lot better!' she informed Dain.

'If that tastes better than before, I hate to drink it without honey,' Morio grumbled, laying back down and rubbing his throat.

'Maybe you should have the honey on something else,' Dain suggested, looking at Morio, concerned. 'The honey will help heal your throat.'

Morio ended up having the honey on some bread, but he ended up spiting it back out.

'That is not honey,' Morio muttered, giving his food to Jasmine. Yet again, she couldn't understand why Morio found it disgusting.

After much discussion, it was decided that the companions would travel with Dain to the Stronghold, seeing as he was seriously injured. Jasmine and Jarred spent half an hour arguing with Morio to change their plans. The wild boy eventually gave in, but stated loudly that he trusted Dain as far as he could throw him. Dain naturally heard this comment but he understood the other boy's feelings, saying that Morio was right to be suspicious.

The journey to the Stronghold ended up proving to be too difficult for Dain. Not only had Jasmine broken his arm, but she had also broken a few ribs. He ended up falling unconscious from the pain, and by some miracle, the boy had told the companions the directions to get to the stronghold, only mere minutes before. For the rest of the journey, Jarred ended up carrying the Resistance boy.

Thanking their luck star, the travellers were not attacked on their journey to the stronghold, but that does not mean the star was still shining brightly when they arrived.

'Hello!' Jasmine yelled towards the boulder hiding the stronghold entrance. 'Open up! We have Dain with us. He is in need of medical attention!'

'What's the password?' a voice demanded from behind the boulder. 'Answer or die!'

'We are not enemies!' Jarred informed the hidden man. He had a hint of annoyance in his tone. 'Doom knows who we are. If you could see us –'

'I can see you, we all can,' said the voice. 'And as we speak there are a dozen arrows aimed at you, so don't move.'

'What of Neridah and Glock?' Morio asked. 'They know who we are.'

'So what? Appearances mean nothing around here. You could be Ols for all we know.'

'Oh well, we tried getting him here, now let's go,' Morio muttered bitterly. 'I'm not going to stand here all day talking to a coward behind a boulder.'

'Morio!' Jarred scolded.

Morio didn't listen. Instead, he began to walk off, before jumping into some bushes as arrows were shot at him.

'What was that for?' Morio demanded, before picking up a piece of paper underneath a rock. 'Found it,' he added to Jarred, showing the older man, who just looked confused.

No arrows were being fired now.

'This must have something to do with the password,' Morio muttered to him. He had his back to the wall so no one could hear or see his lips moving.

'When Enemies at Pass, Orders Normal,' Jarred muttered, reading the paper.

He stood there thoughtfully before laughing slightly and saying, 'The passwords weapon.'

The boulder surprisingly moved aside and a small old man came out. Surprisingly, Jarred tensed up when he recognised the old man.

'Come in,' he ordered.

After the slightest hesitation, the companions followed him inside. Once inside, two Resistance members hurried forth and took Dain off Jarred and laid him down on a nearby bed. The other members, both young and old alike, all had their eyes on Jasmine, Jarred and especially Morio.

'Here are some friends who have come to join us!' the small man told the crowd. 'They brought poor young Dain home. It seems he decided to go adventuring, and bit off more than he could chew.'

He and everyone else sniggered.

'Good to see that you haven't changed at all, Jinks,' Jarred said coldly.

The room fell silent and Jinks looked at Jarred suspiciously.

'How do you know who I am?' he asked, eyes untrusting.

'Yeah, how do you know him?' Jasmine asked her father. She had never seen the man before.

'He was one of the acrobats at the palace in Del,' he explained.

'You lived in the palace?' Jinks said, trying to rack his brains as to why the man in front of him now looked so familiar.

'Obviously, and before you start teasing young Dain, you should know that he is only injured because he risked his life to save us from two Ols.'

'That's right!' Jasmine said fiercely. 'He's bravery was great!'

'And what would you know of bravery, Birdie?'

Glock had just walked out of another room and was heading towards them.

'It's good to see you too, Glock,' Jasmine said sarcastically.

'I think the last time I saw you, you were being carried out of the Rithmere Arena sleeping like a little baby,' Morio provoked.

Glock did not take too kindly to that.

'Why you little –'

A sudden knock on the boulder outside, made everyone fall silent. Jinks and two adults, a man and a woman, hurried to the door.

'Password?' he asked.

'Weapon,' said the reply of Barda's voice.

Moments later, he was in the room with Neridah by his side. He froze slightly when he saw Morio, Jasmine and Jarred.

'Well, I see three faces that do not belong in this stronghold,' Barda said coldly, while Neridah winked at the oblivious Morio. Jasmine glared at her.

'Barda, it's not what you think.'

Everyone turned and watched as Dain struggled to sit up.

'So, you finally decide to join us,' Barda commented walking over to the injured boy. 'You have some explaining to do, Dain. You were expected back days ago. Why are you so late?'

'I saw some Ols in the woods – Level Ones – so I decided to follow them.' Dain appeared to be talking to Barda's shoes, rather than his face.

'By yourself? You disobeyed my orders and then show these three people, who have not been tested to our stronghold; by doing this you have put us all in danger,' Barda scolded. 'Did you also let them know the secret of our password system?'

'No, he did not,' Jarred intervened calmly.

Barda turned to look at the blacksmith, who shrugged.

'It is not difficult to work out,' he explained. 'My best friend and I used to make up secret codes to communicate with each other when we were kids. Your code system of taking the first letter of each word to spell a word was one of the first codes we ever used.'

Barda stared at Jarred, while others were muttering about how impressed they were that Jarred had figured it out.

Barda suddenly clicked his figures and before the companions could react, several Resistance fighters had grabbed their arms and pinned them behind their backs.

'What are you doing?' Morio snapped.

'You discovered something that we consider to be classified information,' Barda said indifferently. 'Besides, what proof do we have that you are not Ols?'

The companions could not answer.

'Take them to the testing room,' the ex-palace guard then ordered.

'Let go of us!' Jasmine yelled as they struggled against their captives who were trying to lead them away.

'What is going on here?' a new voice suddenly demanded. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at the old lady who had just appeared. Jarred gasped and his eyes softened.

'Barda, you're back!' she exclaimed when she saw Barda.

'Hi Mother,' he greeted as he embraced her.

'Min,' Jarred whispered.

Min turned and looked at Jarred, frowning.

'It cannot be,' she whispered. 'Jarred? Can it really be you?'

Jarred nodded and smiled.

'Release him!' Min ordered.

Those who had hold of Jarred hesitantly let go. Moments later, Jarred was holding his old nurse maid tightly.

'I thought you were dead, Jarred!' she sobbed into his chest.

'As it had to be,' Jarred said quietly. 'Prandine would not have rested if he knew that I was still alive. He could not risk me opening Endon's eyes to the truth.'

'I knew that you would never attempt to injure or kill Endon. You two were like brothers!'

'Were, is the key word,' Jarred muttered sadly.

'He's Endon's best friend?' Barda questioned his mother.

'Yes, I would recognise him anywhere. I did practically raise the little terror.' Min smiled fondly at Jarred. 'Just so you know, I still haven't forgiven you for –'

'Putting that cockroach in your hair?' Jarred finished her sentence, trying not to laugh.

'Exactly,' she laughed. 'It seems that you have grown much since we last met, but I'm not sure if that is true in maturity.'

'No, that has grown to,' Jarred replied as Barda ordered for Morio and Jasmine to be released, 'though I owe that to my daughter, Jasmine.' He motioned to Jasmine.

'You found a life outside the castle, then,' Min said as she took Jasmine's hand warmly. 'She's beautiful, Jarred, though I can see that she looks a lot like you.'

'Takes after me too, unfortunately,' he muttered.

'And who is this young man?' She turned to face Morio. Her smile flattered slightly when she saw how dirty he was.

'He is Morio,' Jarred introduced. 'We met him in the Forests of Silence.'

'It is nice to meet you, Morio,' Min greeted with a smile.

Morio merely nodded his head and eyed the woman curiously. Why did he get the feeling that he knew her?

'You three must be exhausted,' she continued. 'So, how about fix you all a nice bath, especially you, young Morio?'

'I'm good,' Morio replied.

'But, dear, you are filthy!'

'And I'm probably going to get filthy again after having a bath, so why bother?'

'Don't try arguing with him, Min,' said Jarred. 'He's extremely stubborn. I've tried on countless occasions to get him to bath. The most I've ever achieved his him cleaning his skin.'

'Well, I'm pretty stubborn too, if you'd remember, Jarred.' Min turned back to Morio determined to get the young man to bathe. She did not succeed. Morio turned out to be extremely stubborn and no matter what Min tried she could not get the young man to do as she asked.

'Surrendered yet, Min?' asked Jarred as they all sat down for dinner.

'For the time being I have,' she sighed. 'He is even more stubborn than you, Barda and Endon combined!'

'Morio has lived on his own since he was six,' Jarred informed her quietly. 'He hasn't had to do anything most people have to do. All he has had for company is Filli and Kree.'

'What happened to his parents?' Barda inquired curiously.

'I don't know,' Morio answered. 'I have no memory of my past. All I can remember is waking up in the Forests of Silence and then surviving.'

Azaelia Silmarwen facebook page: link on profile
Written: 28 October 2012
Updated: N/A
Beta: [in progress]

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