Chapter+3

After the battle with the orks, and the death of their brother, the two remaining clones kept to themselves. They mourned over the death of their brother for a few days. But the men still went on. Jams, Joseph, Spencer and the clones had a hard time. The men were thirsty. They were running low on water and could not find a stream or a river for days. The men also had to hurry up and stay clear of the vicious orks after them. They had been traveling for several days. One day James went off on his own when the others were resting after an exhausting day. By then the men were dehydrated and hanging on to their lives. James smelled something unusual. He followed the sent into a forest. “Don’t veer off too far, James, we wouldn’t want you to get lost,” said his cautious brother Spencer. James ignored Spencer and continued farther into the forest. He was interested in veering off farther. After walking on for a few minutes, he saw lots of big bushes with poison berries. James pushed past the heavy thorns as he heard the most wonderful sound in the world to him, the sound of rushing water. There was a stream! “Spencer!! Come quickly! Bring everyone!” James yelled with all his might. When Spencer heard James he concluded that James was being attacked and need to be rescued. After a few minutes, James heard the stomping sounds of the four men. They came rushing in with their guns loaded and ready to attack the danger, but instead they found James splashing around in the water having the best time ever. They rushed to the stream and drank all the water they could. “Oh, thank goodness, we thought that you were in danger, but instead you find water and save our lives! Thank You!” Joseph and the clones thanked James. James replied, “We can also stay and rest for the night, the thick bushes will cover us so that we will not be seen in the middle of the night. I am sure all of you are tired,” Everyone decided that stay there was the best idea. They all helped to settle there for the night. The clones still kept to themselves. James went over to talk to them. “I am so sorry for that you lost your brother, I would be devastated if I lost my brother too,” James said. No one spoke for a while. Then one of the brothers said, “Thank You for your sympathy. We are sorry we have been so hostile in the past. We three brothers thought we were invincible. Vincent’s death was the hardest thing either of us has had to deal with. But my brother wanted to finish this journey for Nazarath and want to finish it for him. “That is a very respectful thing to do for your brother. What are your names?” asked James. “My name is Vaughn and his is Victor,” said Vaughn. After the conversation the men all went to their places and slept. In the morning, they head out for the Town of Tempa. There they would resupply. The Town of Tempa was friends to the people of Nazarath. The men walked to Tempa for several hours. Joseph was the most eager to get to the Town of Tempa. On their way James noticed that Spencer had been very jumpy. He would jump at any moving bushes or strange footsteps. “What’s wrong Spencer? You have been acting weird all morning,” James asked, “I don’t know, but I have had this weird feeling that something is following us,” whispered Spencer, “I am not sure yet so I don’t want to scare everyone,” the brothers kept going with caution. A few minutes later, everyone heard the trees stirring. At once everyone reached for their guns and pointed at the trees. “Come out and show us who you are, or we will shoot!” James yelled to the suspicious person behind the trees. “I mean you no harm,” called out a voice. “Then why have you been following us? Show yourself and we won’t shoot,” replied Spencer. A few seconds later they saw a scrawny old man come out. He wasn’t a well dressed man. He had on a pair of old green trouser with rips on the knees, and a dirty shirt. He seemed to be a common peasant. James signaled the men to lower their weapons. “I am from the Town of Tempa, I saw all of you coming towards town and I want to get a better look at all of you,” said the man, “my name is Nicholas, I can escort you to the town if you wish. Our king is waiting for you.” “Thank you Nicholas,” replied James. The men followed Nicholas to the town. It was a small town of about 1,000 people. Most everyone was a peasant. When the men arrived at the castle, they were welcomed with people rushing up to them and serving them food and offering them garlands of flowers. “The explorers have arrived!” they all called out. Nicholas led them to the king’s throne room. They walked into a room that HUGE, it had glamorous glass chandeliers, and jewels on the sides of the walls. In the middle, there was a throne with a big fat king sitting in the middle of it. “James! Spencer! You have arrived! It is my greatest pleasure to welcome you and your men to my kingdom,” boasted the king. “King Theodor, thank you for having us,” James replied. The men were shown around the kingdom for a few hours, and then Joseph and Vaughn went off to gather some supplies. The kingdom was beautiful. The people were very curious about the men. They came up and asked them millions of questions. Joseph and James came back with everything that they would need for their journey till their next stop at the Town of Jarzad. The men all said their goodbyes to the people and the king. Joseph, Victor, Vaughn, Spencer and James were back in the quest, but they had something horrible coming their way. The only way to the Town of Jarzad was through the Forest of Abutor, the most danger forest known to man. Stories have been told that many enchanted creatures live there, such as centaurs, evil mermaids, giants, goblins, demented dwarfs and other creatures that are as equally terrifying. “Is there any other way to Jarzad? There must be a different path that doesn’t lead us to your deaths,” cried Joseph. “No, I’m afraid, there is only one path. We can’t go around the Forest either; it is surrounded by huge rivers on both sides. We cannot waste any time, we have to go through. After a few minutes, they reached the edge of the forest. The five men looked at it like it was their graves. “Well, let’s go on then,” James said as he was first one to take a step into the dangerous forest. Spencer was next, and then the others followed along. When James stepped into the forest, he noticed that it was damp and cold. The trees were covered in frost, even though right outside the forest, it was sunny and warm. The farther into the forest they went, the colder it was. “We should have tried to find another route,” Joseph muttered. “Well there’s no going back now,” Spencer replied. Then, suddenly, the tree branches moved around them. Everyone looked up in fright. “It probably just some birds,” Joseph whispered, but none of them were reassured. After a few minutes, they heard it again. Then again after ten more minutes. “I think we are being followed again, but this time it doesn’t seem to be friendly. All the men kept a sharp eye out in case something were to attack them. Then they saw something come out of the woods. Its horse like legs came out first, but then as the men looked closer, they realized that it had a human torso and head. It was a centaur! Victor and Vaughn immediately aimed their gun to the head of the centaur. The centaur was about to run for it when, “Wait! Don’t shoot him, he might not be an enemy!” cried James, “Who are you?” James asked the centaur. “I am Brook. I am the head of the centaur family in the Forest of Abutor. My family saw you all passing through the forest and became curious. We mean you no harm, can you please ask your men to lower their weapons?” the Brook asked. James signaled the brothers to lower their weapons. “We are going to the Town of Jarzad, and the only way to get through is the Forest, could you help us get through?” James asked. “Yes, my family and I would love to help you all. Come to your home so that you can rest.” Brook said “Thank you so much, we appreciated it,” Spencer replied. The men followed Brook along a dirt path to a tunnel. Through the dark tunnel was a paradise. There were trees with no frost, sparkling streams and hundreds of wild flowers. And around all of the beautiful landscape were many centaurs. Ti was the complete opposite of what was right on the other side of the tunnel. “Wow! You home is gorgeous!” James cried. “Thank You, we do a lot to keep it this way,” Brook said. Let me introduce you to my people. “Everyone come around. These men are on their way to the Town of Jarzad, they will need our help to get through the forest. Please treat them like kings,” Brook said to his people. The men settled down to rest. All the men were watched by the centaurs. They we all curious just like the people of Tempa. A brave little centaur came up to them and started to talk to them. A curious little boy was the only one with a real interest in them. He spied on them from behind a rock. Joseph spotted him “Hi, what’s your name, boy?” Joseph asked. “Tor, my name is Tor,” whispered the boy. “Why are you going to Jarzad? There is nothing is anything interesting in that town,” he said in a squeaky voice. Joseph chuckled. “We are actually going to Yumazandra, to find a Cyclops,” Joseph told him. Tor didn’t believe Joseph for a while. “We are going to get the Cyclops’ eye so that we can use it to save our sick king,” Joseph explained. The boy was excited. He and Joseph talked for a few hours. Then Brook came by, “I see you’ve meet my son, Tor,” Brook said “Yes, he seems to be a very curious and intelligent boy,” Joseph replied. “Yes, I’m sorry but, it seems that we should start to get going,” said Brook.