Chapter 4 – A Wizard's Reunion
Once again, I wake up uncomfortable. Well, this is a bit of an understatement. Right now, I am being carried through the bushes, tied by my ankles upside down. My arms are dangling uselessly above my head, since I am too tired to do anything with them. My wrists are still raw from the ropes yesterday, and my ankles are even worse because they still aren't loose.
When the people that are carrying me realize I have woken up, they pour a bucket of water over my head. They also stuff old bread in my mouth and expect me to eat hanging upside down. I spit it out, not even trying to eat. (Even though I am starving.)
After a short period of walking, the Indians drop the stick I'm tied to. (No, don't just set the pole on the ground, but drop it so I hit the ground and then the pole lands on my head after.) I look up rubbing the new bruise on my head and see a large circular area with a throne in the middle.
I gasp wildly when I realize just who is sitting on that throne. "ALEX!" I exclaim.
"Justin, is that you?" She asks confused. The leader-Indian-guy sitting next to Alex leans over and whispers something to her. I frown up at her.
"Justin you look horrible." Alex laughs at me. She has a point though. I've been sleeping on the ground for a few days now, I haven't washed or showered since we got to this place, I'm bruised and battered, and I haven't eaten in more than 48 hours.
Alex on the other hand, looked well fed, clean, comfortable, and basically just glowing. She looked super happy sitting next to the hot native dude.
"Alex, please, we've got to get back home." I pleaded with her.
She surprised me by saying, "Why would I want to go home? I've got everything I ever wanted right here."
"But what about mom and dad? How about Max? What about being a wizard? I bet you haven't tried any magic since we got here!" I yelled back at her.
"I don't need magic when I already have everything I need." She retorted. Oops, that was a mistake. Don't get queen-of-getting-everything-she-wants mad. She motioned to a big guy beside her and he picked me up and carried me over to a wheel propped up outside Alex's circle.
This wheel was massive. It had some strange symbols roughly cut into it. It was probably about seven feet tall and perfectly circular. It was wooden and had four pieces of rope tied to the four corners. Oh, and did I mention that it could spin, well, fast?
The strong man tied me to this torturous device. I ended up lying spread eagle to the wheel as they slowly started spinning it.
"Alex, please, make them stop! You know I'm not good with this type of thing! I'll get sick!" She just laughed at my panicked voice and her eyes got huge as she watched me spinning out of control.
I spun and spun, faster and faster, until the strong guy jerked it to a stop. I got whiplash from the sudden non-spinning. They untied me and I fell to the ground from being so dizzy.
"What kind of game is this Alex?" I spat. I was furious that my own sister could do this to me. At first, I thought Alex was going to finally do something nice to me, but I was wrong. She told the strong guy to do something I couldn't understand, and then they tied me by my knees to a hard wooden chair.
"What is it with you people and tying people up? It's not like I could escape anyways!" I screamed at them. When I opened my mouth to yell more insults at them they stuffed a piece of fruit in my face. The delicious juices shut me up instantly. I was so hungry that I didn't care that I didn't even know what I was eating.
They continued to stuff food in my mouth faster than I could chew it, until I couldn't eat any more. Alex told the guy to stop shoving food at me and everyone stood still.
Alex's throne was moved to the edge of her circle and a bonfire was started in the middle. And guess what? We ate MORE food. I was still tied to a chair, but the attention shifted from me to the huge fire. A drum beat started and Alex surprised me again by getting up and dancing around the fire. A few other young girls got up and joined her.
This seemed like some type of ritual. The drum beats increased in tempo until Alex's dance got so fast they were almost blurry. I watched in shock from my chair as everyone started dancing. The young, the old, the men, the women, everyone. Some torches were set up around the circle as the dance continued throughout the night.
The drumming got faster and faster still, until it was just a continuous noise. I saw Alex stand up tall in the centre, (or as close as she could get to the centre since the fire was the actual middle) and she shouted something to the crowd. Everyone cheered and she walked over to the biggest drum. She struck it once, twice, three times. On the fourth drum beat, everyone fell silent.
The cheerful faces of the crowd slowly turned into horror. Every fell to the ground in slow motion. Alex jumped up and sprinted over to me and started untying me.
"What's going on?" I yelled to her.
"Shh, you have to be quiet. The spell I put on them only lasts for a few minutes. We have to get out of here." She whispered. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"What are you talking about? I thought you liked them!" I blurted. Alex finished untying me and started half pulling half running with me away from the campsite. She yanked me to a stop just inside the bushes.
"Listen. I put a spell on that drum so that the first wizard that hit it four times would make every mortal fall unconscious. My magic isn't very strong so it won't last long."
"But then why did you say that you never wanted to leave? I thought you loved that Indian guy."
"LISTEN! I tricked them. What part of that don't you get? Sure that guy was hot, but isn't family more important? Sure, they treated me well, but when I found out what they were doing to you I knew they weren't good. Justin, they planned to sacrifice you at the end of that bonfire." She whispered quickly.
"WHAT! They were going to kill me? Oh thank you Alex, I knew you weren't evil."
"Pssht that little wheel thing was pretty funny though, I have to admit. What a great idea." She laughed back.
"That was your idea?" I yelled angrily.
"Oh calm down, you know I love playing harmless practical jokes on you. Plus if they thought I was torturing you, then they would trust me more to be in charge of them." She said matter-of-factly.
"Well, how do we get out of here?" I asked.
"Simple, we're wizards, duh." She smirked.
"Wrong. The Indians broke my wand when I tried to use it."
"Oh no! We can't go home! This place that we're in, it's not the same as where we're from. We can't get home unless we have a full wizard, right?"
"You did your homework!"
"Yeah well, I only read the stuff that will actually help, not useless stuff that you memorize like that ripening fruit spell." I was about to open my mouth for a comeback but Alex put her hand over my mouth.
"Enough, we have to get far away from this place so they don't wake up when we're still here." She whispered.
"Let's go." I mumbled. We stumbled through the thick bush at a quick pace. After a few minutes of going as fast as we could, we heard a horn sound in the distance.
"Oh no! They woke up. They know that we ran away." Alex worried.
"Just keep going." I urged her forward. We kept at our quickest pace for long, suspenseful minutes. After a long time, I collapsed. I couldn't walk any further. My feet were already aching when we started, let alone after all the running we did. Alex put up a spell around us that should keep away the Indians, at least for awhile anyways.
Justin's feet are hurting so, please heal him so he can fully grow! Alex recited. Suddenly, I was feeling much better now that I didn't hurt anymore. Alex looked exhausted from all the magic and running she just did, and I was bushed too. We fell asleep on a pile of leaves while I complained for this being the third night in a row I slept on the ground.
"At least you're not being sacrificed by the weird people still." Alex shot back sleepily.
"Thanks again Alex. For being my sister." I whispered to my already-asleep baby sister.
*The end of chapter 4* How are you guys liking this story so far? Is it too confusing or anything? Thanks for all the reviews and support so far, it really helps! Thanks!