Chapter 2: The Search for Ostrheinburg Castle
The siblings began to enter town, but no sign of their crew, or any members of the Bird of Passage. Tira became worried and asked Toren, "I thought that there we're Bird of Passage chapters everywhere. Why aren't there any here?"
"Well," Toren started, "There used to be, but there was little buisness, so HQ shut it down. The chapter used to be in a place called Ostrheinburg Castle. If we go there, we might find something useful.
Toren began to walk again before he stopped suddenly saying, "I just realized that I have no idea where the castle is." Tira and Toren tried asking locals, but when they mentioned the castle, the locals refused to answer. The siblings gave up their questioning and began the search for the castle themselves.
Hours passed but there was no sign of the castle. Night came sooner than expected, so Tira and Toren checked in at an inn for the night. The twins were tired and slept well into the night and awoke and continued their search, but upon their leave, someone from the inn began to follow them. The old man followed them for hours until Toren decided to do somehting about it.
"Hold on a sec," he told Tira, "We have a visitor." Toren ran behind the tree he was hiding behind and dragged him out with a chokehold. After letting him go, the old man stood up and said, "Icouldn't help but overhearing that you're looking for Ostrheinburg Castle. I hope you know that they're no longer in service."
"We know," said Tira, "We're members from a different chapter."
"Well," the old man started, "In that case I'll tell you how to get there on one condition. A simple challenge. Just take this glass ornament from me. Do that and you'll get the location."
Toren stared at he old man, "I won't do it." Tira's jaw dropped in awe and asked, "Why not."
Because," Toren replied, "He blind."
Tira walked up to the old man and said, "That's not such a bad thing.That makes him easier to defeat."
The old man picked up his cane and hit Tira behind her knees and said as she fell to the ground, "I fight dirty!" Tira crawled over to where Toren was standing and begged him to take the challenge. Toren still refused so Tira accepted the old man's challenge.
Tira and the old man stood facing each other for a few minutes before Tira rushed him. The old man flipped over Tira, allowing her to run into a tree. Tira stood up, still dazed trying the same move twice. The outcame was the same. Tira regained composure and managed to sneak up behind the old man and grab the ornament, but before getting far, the old man took his cane and shattered the ornament."
Tira stood confused while the old man smirked and Toren stared at the old man, impressed that he knew the perfect stragety. Tira spun around and yelled, "What! You can't do that!"
Toren walked over and said,"I'm afraid he can. You see Tira, Your job was to win. His job was simply not to lose. By shattering the ornament, he made sure that there was no way you'd win."
"Thanks for the supports Toren," Tira said sarcasticly.
"Anyway you look at it," said the old man, "You lost. Looks like the location stays a secret." As the old man walked off Toren whispered in Tira's ear and soon afterwards Tira said, "He might as well leave. I bet he doesn't even know where it is."
"Oh please," said the old man, "That's the oldest trick in the book. Don't tell me you really expect me to fall for that."
"Not really," said Toren, "Seeing how you're just as old and thus frail as the trick. I bet that even if you did now its location, you're too old to take us there."
"Oh yeah," the old an started, "I'll show- Hey! Wait a minute. I almost fell for that one."
"As expected," said Tira tauntingly. "We can't expect an old man like you to remember all the tricks in the book, much less the cestle's location."
"That's it!" the old an screamed, "I don't care if that was a trick. I'll show you what I can do!" The old man passed Tira and Toren as they gave each other high-fives.
A long trek ensued and Tira and Toren lagged long behind the old man who scoffed every thirty seconds. Night came as they arrives at a discreet waterfall.
"What's here old man?" asked Toren.
"If you look closely you'll find what you'll looking for," he said misticly.
Tira walked up to the old man and said, "No offence, but seeing isn't really one of your strong suits."
The old man didn't move. Instead he responded, "Let's just say I have a sixth sense about these things."
"Or in your case, a fifth sense," said Toren sarcasticly. Tira continued to stare at the old amn and said, "All this extra sense talk is facinating but how does this help us find the castle."
The old man became irriteted with Tira's lack offocus and said,"Do I have to spell it out for you? Use your brain to see, not your eyes."
"Couldn't we just swim through the waterfall?"asked Tira.
"I suppose you could," started the old man, but before he could finish, Tira and Toren were swimminng through the waterfall. The old man shook his head and said to himself, "No one ever respects the wise old man." The old man dove ino the waters after the twin.
Once in, the three were staring at the old station of the Bird of Passage, The Ostrheinburg Castle.
The towering castle stood hundereds of feet high, hundereds of feet long. Obviously made of marble, the tower sparkled so brightly in the night with such attractive brilliace that Tira couldn't take her eyes off it. She began to walked near it when she was pulled back by the old man and Toren who said, "Are you crazy? You almost walked right into that moat."
Before Tira could respond, an explosion cause all of them to plunge deep into the murky moat.