Bwahahahahahahaha! Ok, sorry. I, SirGecko, just feel really evil right now. School will do that . . . that and the thought of dynamite. Heh. I could blow that place straight to Hell . . .
Many thanks to my reviewers of chapter 13 . . . and all of the previous. Like always, your support is greatly appreciated.
Okay, to the point of discussion. I have the much-awaited (I think) 14th chapter for all of those who are interested. It's rather short, about 6 1/2 pages long, but that's okay. All long chapters can get kinda boring, eh?
There's a small new twist developing that will leave you all in suspense. And some cliffhangers (sorry 0==|=R=a=g=n=a=r=o=k) too. If you all hate cliffhangers, here's my advice. The more reviews I get from fellow authors and readers, the faster I update. It's that simple.
Now, I have something I've been needing to get off my chest about the 13th chapter. Great Saiyaman, and hopefully several others, were pleased to find out that Lunora and Ivan finally kissed. And, as a little message to myself, "God, SirGecko, it's about damn time! 120 pages on your computer just to make them kiss?! What the Hell is wrong with you, making all those readers wait that long?" Okay, thank you for listening to me and my pointless ranting.
Okay, one last thing. That stupid disclaimer. Ahem. I DO NOT OWN GOLDEN SUN. If I did . . . well, that'd be pretty darn cool, now wouldn't it?
. . . I think I've bored you enough. On with chapter 14!
Chapter 14: Conspiracy
"Well? Are they coming or not?"
"Of course they are coming. They'll have to travel through this forest to get to the Mars Lighthouse."
"But they haven't been here as soon as we expected them to."
"Do you doubt my word?"
"I did not mean that, but if we want to capture the traveler Isaac, he will have to come along here soon. We can only stay here for so long. Then we have to go meet-"
"I know who we have to meet, you don't have to remind me! Trust me, they will come down this path, sooner or later. They will have to reach the lighthouse by traveling through this forest, on this path. But . . . they still have the Mars Star."
"Why go to the lighthouse when they have the star? That'll just risk the lighthouse being lit, won't it?"
"Yes, but he is too arrogant, too foolish to believe that he and his followers will defeat the others. He cannot see reason when he is set to a task, and we can use that to our advantage. When they come by, we will capture them, and steal the star for what ourselves, so we can do with it what it was created for . . ."
"But, Isaac and his followers grow more powerful with each passing day. They will not be defeated easily."
"The others are at their elemental lighthouse. Isaac and his followers will not survive the battle. The others will make sure of that . . ."
*******
"This is it. The forest entrance," said Isaac. "I heard that it is similar to Mogall Forest in size, but the difficult part this time will be the monsters."
"Hey, can't we hunt one of them?" asked Garet. "It would be nice to have some decent food."
"You think gargoyle meat is decent food?" asked Ivan. "Or are you perhaps deluded by the fact that you have not had two pounds of food in the last twelve hours?"
"There may be other monsters worth eating inside the forest though, Ivan," said Solaris. "Personally, If all we could find were gargoyles, than I'd eat it."
"Well, if you put it that way, I would too," said Ivan.
"Let's get going!" said Isaac. "The sooner we can get this over with, the better."
And with that said, they began to walk through the forest. It was pitch-dark inside. It was so dark in fact, that Isaac couldn't see his hand in front of him. Thankfully, Garet had thought ahead, for once. He pulled a small lantern out of his pack, and lit it with a flick of his wrist. It didn't throw off much light, but it was better than nothing, and definitely enough so that they could see the trail.
Garet handed the lantern to Isaac, who grabbed it and took the lead. They could see the candle flame flickering against the dark, ominous trees. It did not present an aura of comfort, that was for sure. They all had their weapons drawn, and they were alert and wary, taking every cracking branch to be that of a creature stepping on it.
Isaac held his Gaia Blade in his left hand, the lantern in his right. Concentrating both on finding his footsteps on the dark, dank path, and on any noises that he heard that were close by, he definitely had his hands full. Then, he saw a shadow stop on the path in front of him. He started slightly.
"Monster ahead," he said, setting the lantern down. "It doesn't look too difficult. But then again, I can barely see. It looks like a bear."
"I can dispatch it," said Garet, stepping forward, his axe drawn, and gleaming a brilliant orange color against the flickering of the flames.
Garet stopped a few feet away from the bear and waited until it charged him down. When it did, Garet mercilessly began to swing his axe, and the monster's grunts of pain could soon be heard. Then, silence filled the area.
"It's dead," said Garet.
"Good," said Isaac, stepping forward with the lantern in hand again. "Is it fit to eat?"
"I'm hungry enough," said Garet. "But you guys already knew that. You guys come up and check it for yourselves."
The rest of the group moved forward and inspected the dead monster. Besides the various slashes and matted fur that adorned its body, it looked very enticing to the whole group.
"If it's cooked enough, I don't see why we can't eat it," said Mia.
"I agree," said Ivan. "I'm starving, personally. What about you guys?"
"Like I said, I'm hungry enough to eat gargoyle meat," said Solaris.
"I'll eat anything that's not rotten," said Lunora. "And that goes for the food in the pantry on our ship. So, I'll eat this, no problem."
"Then it's decided!" said Solaris, removing the serrated knife from a sheath on his pack.
Everyone waited while Solaris cut meaty parts of the monster away for cooking. Then, wrapping them up in a sheet he brought with him for sleeping, he swung the meat effortlessly over his back. So, motioning to Isaac, they started on their way again.
*******
"I have good news."
"What is it?"
"They have entered the forest. It shouldn't be long until they reach this area."
"Good. I see your little scouting mission was successful. You are quite confident that they will make camp around here?"
"If they are wise. The path here is wide, and ideal for a little camp-out and rest before they get to the Mars Lighthouse."
"Your plan is ingenious. Isaac and Garet may be foolish, but they are wise when it comes to survival. The chances of them camping here are high. By now, they will be exhausted and hungry."
"Yes. And when they do camp here, we will make our move."
"And they will pay."
*******
Isaac and the others were bone-exhausted after a long time of walking down the forest path. Everything looked the same. The trees, the grass, the path. Branches and vines often caught their legs, causing more than one person to trip. And the scary thing was that not a sound could be heard. Not even crickets, bats, or owls. It was as if the forest was plagued by some deadly creature that killed everything that made noise in the forest . . .
"Man, when are we going to rest for the rest of the night?" Garet said, dragging his feet slowly down the path, putting slight skid marks in it. "I feel dead on my feet."
"We will stop once we find a suitable place to make camp," responded Isaac. "If that means we get out of the forest before we do, then so be it. We'll camp then."
"But, that'll be hours!" whined Garet.
"Look, I'm tired too!" said Isaac irritably. "We're all tired. But we want to get to Karst and Agatio as soon as possible. Sometimes we have to push ourselves further than we would like."
"Okay, teacher, enough of the lecture," said Garet, just as irritably. "I get the point."
"What about that place up there?" asked Mia, pointing ahead.
The rest followed her gaze. In front of them was a small clearing. The path widened at this point slightly, and short grass grew on either side of the path.
"I don't think so," said Solaris slowly. "Though that clearing isn't bad, It's probably too cramped for supplies, a fire, and six sleeping areas."
"What about going in the trees?" asked Garet. "I'm sure there are lots of clearings in there."
"I doubt that there are a lot of clearings, since you can't even see the sky because the trees are so thick, and secondly, if we stray off the path, we might get lost, and then we would be in real trouble," said Isaac.
"Yeah, plus, I think there are more wide points on the trail. Further ahead," said Ivan.
"I agree," said Lunora. "If it were slightly larger, it would work. If the path widens here, I'm sure it will widen further along."
"Okay," said Ivan. "Let's get going then. I want to find that clearing as soon as possible."
And so they trudged on, all dragging their feet this time. Isaac squinted into the semi-darkness, using the light of the lantern to guide his vision, and his footsteps. He thought he saw the glint of yellow eyes, but it was just the lantern reflecting off of a rock.
For quite some time, there was absolutely no sign of a widening of the bath, let alone one big enough for the whole group to stay at. Soon, many we trying their best not to collapse with exhaustion. It was tough work. Everyone was concentrating all their energy of: trying to keep their eyelids open, trying to keep walking, and trying not to collapse with exhaustion. It looked like no break was in sight.
Then, they saw it. A clearing at last . . . one twice as big as the one Mia pointed out earlier. No one even had to say a word. Isaac blew out the lantern, and Garet fell onto the ground with a loud *thunk*. His snores could be heard seconds afterward.
"Slacker," said Solaris humorously. "Oh, well. Let's let him sleep."
He gathered up some nearby twigs into a small pile, and then lit them on fire with a small flare emitted from his hand. The light made shadows dance on Garet's face, and on the surrounding trees more brilliantly than the small lantern that Isaac held had.
"We'll need to get this fire going more than this if we want to cook that meat enough," said Mia.
"Which means that we'll need to get some wood," said Lunora.
"Let's leave Isaac here, and the rest of us will go get some wood. That way, we'll be back here within minutes with enough to last us until we get going again."
"Fine with me," said Isaac. "You better stick together."
"Good idea," said Solaris. "We'll stick together, since we don't want to get lost in this forest. Let's go."
Solaris, Lunora, Ivan, and Mia disappeared off further down the path. Isaac looked around, and noticed that Garet's Giant Axe was gone. He reasoned that Solaris must have taken it to chop down some short trees. In case, he had left his Sol Blade by Garet's side; if Isaac and Garet encountered monsters, he didn't want to leave Garet weaponless.
*******
"I bring good news once again."
"What is it this time?"
"Four of his followers have left to seek wood. I witnessed it myself."
"This is great news. We planned to take all six of them, but with four gone, it will make this business a whole lot easier."
"I agree. With that said, this would be the right time to take action. Let's go."
"You mean, you want to take them, now?"
"I haven't finished. One of them is even sleeping as we speak. Can you think of a better opportunity to strike?"
"You're right. Do you have your necessary equipment?"
"Of course. You?"
"Naturally."
"Well, let's do this, and get it over with. Move out."
*******
Isaac was still waiting for the others' return, but sat, humming to himself, fighting back the tiredness, which the fire had dissipated somewhat for some reason. He prodded the fire with a twig, sending a shower of brilliant orange sparks into the air. The meat was out and ready to go next to the small campfire.
"Ahh," said Isaac happily to himself. "Once Solaris and the others get back from the woods, we'll roast that meat and have a decent meal for once. Then, we'll sleep 'till morning, and then take off again for the Mars Lighthouse, refreshed!"
"That's what you think," said a muffled, but definitely evil-sounding voice.
Isaac tried to spin around to get a view of who had the voice, but he was restrained by a pair of very strong hands, while a gag was stuffed in his mouth. He could hear the same also happening to Garet.
"Now, be a good boy, and do what I tell you, and no one gets hurt," said the voice. Isaac nodded.
"This one is all tied up," said another voice, also muffled.
'Probably to prevent identification,' Isaac thought. He could hear Garet squirming on the ground with all his might behind him.
"Now that we have you two restrained," said the voice near Garet, "there is only one more thing to take care of."
Isaac tried to look around wildly, but the hand on his head was so strong that it prevented his head from moving a mere inch from side to side. Isaac began to writhe and squirm as he felt his Gaia Blade removed slowly and painfully from its sheath.
"You are wasting your energy, Isaac and Garet," said the voice.
"Haaa oo oou know ouh nameh?" asked Isaac as clearly as he could, as the gag was preventing discernable speech. But the evil voice seemed to understand him, for it answered his question precisely.
"We have our ways," said the voice. "Now, brace yourself. This will hurt a little."
The last thing Isaac knew at this time was the hilt of his own Gaia blade making contact with the upper part of his skull. He could've sworn he heard the same happen to Garet before he passed out . . .
*******
Ivan, Mia, Solaris, and Lunora were bending over, picking up small pieces of wood, branches, and twigs to build the fire hot enough to get some bear meat cooked. Lunora collected an armful of twigs and branches, Mia collected small pieces of wood, and Ivan held large branches.
Solaris was swing away at a small tree with Garet Giant Axe. A small pile of large pieces of wood lay at his feet. A few swings, and the tree crashed to the ground, the cracking of wood heard by everybody. It was a satisfying sound.
Solaris cut off a few sections of the tree, and then split the sections into quarters, and added them to his pile. He picked up the old wood and then, with Ivan's help, he stacked the rest in his arms. He had to have held at least a dozen pieces. He confided to Ivan that the only reason he didn't carry more was because if he did, his vision would have been obstructed.
"This oughta be enough wood for now," said Ivan, holding a huge pile of the aforementioned substance in his hands. "Let's head back to camp."
Everyone held a large pile of either logs or sticks to keep the fire going long enough for them to eat. They were excited for the first time in a day. They were finally going to have a halfway-decent meal.
"I can taste that bear meat already," said Solaris, licking his lips.
"Me too. My mouth is watering!" said Mia.
"Do you think they'll have some meat cooking right now?" asked Ivan.
"I doubt it," said Solaris. "The wood for the fire now isn't enough to even get it steaming, let alone cook it."
"You know, I bet we would be positively revolted at the idea of eating a monster bear if we actually had decent food on board the ship," laughed Lunora.
"I think you're right about that," said Ivan. "Although there was this time in the Suhalla when me and Isaac ate some lizards because we were so hungry . . ."
"And then you drank cactus juice! I remember that!" said Mia, starting to giggle. "You and Isaac looked so cute with your lips pressed to a cactus . . . like you were-"
"Kissing it?" said Ivan scornfully. "Leave it to women to think of those kinds of things . . ." Solaris chuckled heartily.
"Look ahead," said Lunora. "The fire is almost out! Oh, I do hope we didn't run out of wood already . . ."
"Well, we'd better hurry if we want to get there in time to get it going again!" said Solaris.
They ran as fast as they could while holding an armful of wood. They got back to the camp in about five minutes, and Mia threw some branches and small pieces of wood onto the fire, sending a shower of sparks into the air. Flames immediately sprung from the pile of wood, throwing the whole campsite into light sufficient enough to see.
"Phew! Before that, I couldn't see a thing around me," said Lunora.
"And now that we can, I'm beginning to wonder where Isaac and Garet went," said Solaris.
Ivan, Mia, and Lunora spun around on the spot, searching for any sign of Isaac or Garet. But they found none. All they saw were footprints and stirred dirt. This caught everyone eye, and especially Mia's.
"Hey! Look at these footprints!" she said, pointing to the ground.
"Why would there be footprints? This is a moist forest path!" said Ivan.
"I know that, but the fire must have dried out the dirt around this area!" said Mia. "Look!"
"They are footprints," said Lunora. "Well, I'll be damned. They should know better than to wander around the forest now! They could get lost for sure!"
"Their absence was not their own doing," said Solaris gravely.
"What?!" said everyone else.
"Look at these footprints," said Solaris. He pointed. "These over here. Those, see? There are six sets of footprints here. All of them human footprints. Two leading onto the path, and two leading back into the forest. The other two sets of footprints come from Garet's sleeping spot near the place where the footprints from the forest originated, and also Isaac's sitting position on the path next to the fire, facing away from the from the footprints that came out of the forest." said Solaris. He sighed, and continued.
"Isaac and Garet did not leave the forest path willingly." He paused again, and said the three words that everybody else feared he would say most.
"They were abducted."
**********************
Oh, my. Another cliffhanger. Well, like I said before, the more people who review, the less you have to wait. That's a new policy with me from now on. My geckos wanted to set a number minimum, but I don't think that's fair. So, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! Heck, if I get enough, I may get tne next chapter out by tomorrow afternoon!
Hey, if it helps any, it's already done. This is SirGecko signing off.
~SirGecko~