Red Leaves and the Living Token

by Benjamin David Burrell

  A bright flash lit the sky above the forest towards the top of the mountain, followed by a deafening blast. They both ducked in reaction, covering their ears.

  In the distance they saw a black jet spraying up into the clouds from somewhere beneath the tree line.

  "What is that?" Emret asked.

  "I don't know." Moslin answered, a little shaky.

  Emret stared at it, waiting for it to stop. "I've never seen anything like that?"

  The spray collected in the sky rolling out into thick dark clouds. Moslin backed Emret's chair down the slope. "I think maybe we should head back."

  Emret turned to her. "No. Wait."

  "You wanna keep going up towards that?" She asked.

  "No." He stared at darkness.

  She twisted his chair around and pointed him down the mountain.

  "No. I mean. I don't want to go all the way up there." He clarified. "I don't think we have very much further to go."

  She threw her hands up in the air. "OK, well, I think, Emret, I'm going to have to insist."

  "Moslin, I promise, we're almost there!" He pleaded with her.

  She put her hand to her temple in frustration. "I'm not gonna keep taking you up the mountain. Look at the sky Emret. We have to get out of here now!"

  "I'm not leaving!" He wheeled his chair around and pushed with all his energy. The chair inched forward up the steep slope. "I'll meet you back at the bottom. You don't have to come!"

  She stamped her feet. "You are an impossible, little boy, you know that?"

  He proceeded with out her, zig-zagging back and forth across the trail to lessen the slope. She watched with her arms folded as he progressed by the inch. "You're as stubborn as your father!"

  Emret ignored her, saving his concentration for the climb. He was surprised that he was able to make as quick of progress as he did. As long as he could maneuver around any large rocks or wash outs he didn't have too much trouble. After a moment he stopped to catch his breath. His chest throbbed from the exertion.

  "Good. Had enough?" She asked.

  "Nope!" He answered, then started to zig-zagging up the trail again.

  "Hrrrr!" She grunted in frustration. "Come on, Emret!"

  He kept wiggling his way up the mountain.

  "I can't believe this." She stomped after him. "Fine, you've got twenty more minutes and then I'm dragging you down the mountain by your fur!"

  Emret smiled.

  -

  The sun dipped down just below the trees, as Moslin continued to push Emret up the trail. Emret was running out of time, and he knew it. Once the sun set they’d have to turn around. The forest was already getting dark, and that meant a much harder way back. In fact, he was surprised Moslin hadn’t stopped them already.

  He tried to think of a strategy to convince her to keep her going, so he’d be prepared for when she tried to make them stop again. He knew they were close, but he could also tell she was reaching her limit.

  Almost on cue, the wheel chair stopped abruptly. He turned and looked up at her, ready to start his argument for continuing, but she wasn’t looking at him. She was focused on something off in the trees ahead of them.

  “What is that?” She asked.

  Emret turned to where she was looking. A faint, but unmistakable, glow lit up the underbrush, as though someone was hiding in the bushes with a lantern.

  “That’s it!” He shouted. “That’s what we’re looking for.” He couldn’t believe he’d almost missed it. He’d been so focused on coming up with his next argument to keep them going that he had stopped looking.

  “What do we do now?” She asked. She still hadn’t moved or looked away.

  "Could you push me over there?" He asked.

  "Sure," She pushed him forward again.

  The glow brightened as they approached. Shafts of light peeked out from under the drooping leaves of the undergrowth. She crouched down half way behind the chair and pushed as quietly as she could, as though she was going to scare it way.

  "What is it?" She whispered.

  He bent over and brushed a leaf aside with his hand. Bright light beamed out from a cavity below the leaf. The source of the light was siting on the forest floor. It was a small object shaped like a small plant. He scooted to the edge of his chair reached his hand down in between the plants towards it.

  "Be careful!" She cautioned.

  As soon as his finger touched the glowing white surface, his mind went blank. Then he saw himself laying on the forest floor, bathed in a red glow. Just beyond his reach was a shimmering red leafed seedling. It looked almost identical to the white glowing object he had just touched.

  He saw himself gather his strength and then stand up without wavering. He stepped forward, solid and sure. This was what he'd come to find, he thought. It was true! He would be healed!

  His surroundings changed, and he saw his father running through the forest. Then without warning, his father’s legs buckled, sending him tumbling to the forest floor. He looked over at his father and saw a dark pool of blood flowing out from under his chest. His father wasn’t moving.

  Everything around Emret shrank, and he found himself back in the forest, his finger touching the white seedling shaped object.

  "Emret? Emret!" Moslin shook him by the shoulders.

  "Dad!" He cried.

  "You OK?" She asked.

  He stared at her, disoriented. He wanted to tell her what he had just seen. He wanted to share the weight of it. Was that the price of his healing? His father would be injured? Killed? How? Was his father already in the forest somewhere looking for him? They'd have to find him. They'd have to stop it. What ever it was that happened.

  He turned back to the object and curled a leaf half way around it to pick it up.

  Moslin gasped as she caught sight of it for the first time. "That's..." She stammered. "Why... Why is that here?" Tears swelled in her eyes.

  "What is it?" He asked.

  "The Token!" She cried. "The Token," she said softer. This is impossible." She wiped a tear from her cheek.

  "What's wrong?" Emret asked, not sure why she was upset.

  "It’s just... I've been struggling with a lot of things since we came here. You know, what we found in the city, or didn’t find… That wasn’t exactly what I expected.

  "I grew up believing the world was a certain way. And when we came here the facts indicated that the world was not that way. My father... all the things he taught me growing up. I really needed those things. When Anesh died... finding the empty earth in the courtyard… He lied to me. All those years.

  "But..." She put her hand near the Token as though she wanted to hold it. "This... What you've found. It gives me hope that some of what my father taught me was true.”

  He needed it to be true even more than she did. If it wasn't, he would die. He held up the Token for her. "This part's true, Moslin!"

  She smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry I made it so hard for you to get here."

  Then she noticed that something was happening around them. The plants of the undergrowth, as well as the trees above them, had shifted. Every leaf, every branch, and every vine had rearrange and untangled itself. Every part of every living plant surrounding them was now pointing in one clear direction. Due East.

  Emret looked up at Moslin and smiled. "I think we have to go a little further."

  -

  Two large Botann soldiers, wearing the crest of the Holy Master Cleric, crouched in the underbrush. A short distance away, Moslin and Emret held the Tolken up high as they studied it, high enough for the soldiers to see.

  One of the Botan scouts turned to the other, his mouth open in awe. "They have the Token!"

  Three more soliders lay on the forest floor, hiden further back in the trees. One in the front signaled to the smallest in the group. "Report to his Holiness. Ask for reinforcements. Be quick!”

  -

  Two of Lord Valance's over-sized Zo guards stood on either side of the
open doors at the rear of a black carriage, the same that Bedic had escaped from earlier.

  "It looks like forced entry. Someone broke the lock from the outside." One of the guards said.

  "Who would've done that?" Lord Valance demanded.

  The Soldiers looked at each other without response.

  "Follow the tracks. I want him found immediately. The last thing we need is someone else on the mountain looking for things.

  "And where is Rinacht? He never showed up to collect the other half of his money." He turned to Lord Barnus who was leaning up against another black carriage. "Find him!"

  Rinacht stopped outside the incredible stone gate that protected the Petra lands. A hundred foot high wall extended past the gate as far as he could see in both directions.

  Seeing his home again after so many years brought up an unexpected degree of emotion. He'd kept it bottled up so well for so long that he'd forgotten how much leaving his home had effected him.

  "Rinacht Turl, nephew to General Turl, requests entry." He yelled up to the gate guard who was standing on an outcropping a good 30 feet above him.

  The guard eyed him for a moment then signaled to someone inside the gate. Rinacht waited patiently. He fully expected the guard to return with a cross bow and ask him to withdraw from the gate. Such had been the state of affairs when he was asked to leave years ago.

  The massive stone walls shuttered as the internal mechanics started to move. Perhaps he had less to fear than he thought. With a loud rumble, the two doors separated to reveal a polished roadway beyond. Gas lamp poles of black iron paralleled the tightly paved stone road, as it vanished into the distance. It was still a ways into the city. At least he'd made it this far.

  He'd find an inn on the other side of the gate and save his visit with his uncle for the morning.

  -

  Rinacht waited outside his uncle's office. He'd been kindly directed to a row of plain grey chairs up against the far wall. Twenty years later and his uncle still had the same chairs, he chuckled. He couldn't remember how many times he'd had to sit in them as a youth. They were uncomfortable on purpose, he'd been told once, to help him think about what he'd done to warrant the visit.

  He felt as though he was fifteen again, waiting to be reprimanded. In a way he was. If he couldn't convince his uncle that he had a legitimate reason for coming back, it'd be the worst reprimand of his life.

  The office director signaled to him. "Your uncle's ready to see you now.

  He stood up. His legs were unsteady. He wasn't that nervous, was he? His heart was pounding. He'd have to it rein in. His uncle could smell fear. The way he saw it was, it meant you were guilty. He took a deep breath and prayed for confidence.

  He opened the door gently and entered the office. His uncle stood behind his desk staring out a window. A busy plaza filled the view, full of Petra soldiers hurrying about. He closed the door behind him.

  "Take a seat Rinacht," General Turl invited, without turning from the window.

  “Thank you for seeing me on such short notice. I know you're a busy man.” Rinacht said quietly.

  The General finally turned to face him. He had a pained expression on his face. "I've been thinking a lot about the last time we talked, about the decision we came to. Was it fair? Was it just? You're my sister's son for Red's sake!"

  He leaned over onto his desk, his palms flat. "Rinacht, you can not come back here! I'm sorry."

  This was a surprise. His Uncle had been thinking about forgiving him? Thinking about it? That was a miracle. When he left he was lucky his Uncle hadn't killed him. Twenty years was a powerful thing indeed.

  "Please, I'm not here to ask for my way back." He lied. This was precisely what he had hoped to gain. But not before he leveraged what he'd found. "I have something that I believe might be of great Petra National interest."

  The General leaned back off his desk. "What?" He shook his head disbelieving.

  "Let me show you." He lifted his shoulder bag up onto his lap and riffled through the top pouch. "Uh."

  He pulled out a dark cloth and unwrapped the dark purple figurine in the shape of a small bird.

  The General leaned forward and stared at the little bird carving. He furrowed his brow and shook his head again. "What is that supposed to be?"

  The door burst open. Startled, Rinacht fumbled the figurine, then turned to see a little boy bouncing into the room. The General slipped around the desk and picked up the boy. "Rinacht. Meet your Nephew, Haden."

  "My Nephew?" He stood up and set the figurine on the desk.

  "Your little sister's married now. This is her oldest little boy."

  "Hi Haden." Rinacht tried to shake his hand, but the boy just stared at him with pitiful frown.

  The General set him down. "I forget how big you’re getting. I can hardly lift you!" He tickled the boy under the arms.

  "Stop it Grandpa!" Haden laughed and squirmed away.

  "Grandpa?" Rinacht asked.

  "Well, someone had to raise your sister! But I don't really need to explain myself to you. And quite frankly, Rinacht, this makes it more difficult for everybody. Now your sister's gonna have to explain to Haden why he's got an uncle he's never met."

  "Wait. Wait." He rushed back to the desk to get his figurine. But Haden was already there studying it. "Oh, Haden, please don't."

  It was too late. Haden had picked it up out of the cloth. Rinacth watched as the darkness of the figurine dissolved. Then a flash of brilliant white light flooded the room. Both the General and Rinacht ducked in reaction and covered their eyes.

  The light receded to a less brilliant glow. Haden stared at the object in his hands in amazement, his eyes full of wonder. Then Haden froze, his eyes went blank.

  Rinacht was stunned. The boy restored it to white. How? The boy stood motionless in some kind of daze. He watched him, recognizing the look. Handers had done the same thing when he touched the Token.

  Then Haden was back. He blinked a few times before a look of profound sadness came over him. He sat down.

  "Haden?" His adopted grandpa asked.

  He looked up at Rinacht. "What is this?"

  "A fragment of the Token." He answered.

  The General stepped up behind the boy with his hand out to touch it. "Is that possible?"

  "Yes." Rinacht answered.

  "How?" The General asked.

  "My employer found the entire Token buried in the sand on a beach. I don't know how he found it. He went out there by himself after visiting his son in the hospital. His son is sick and is probably not going to make it. I imagine he was out on the beach wrestling with that. Then it was just there, right in front of him.

  “He followed the Token to our mountains, saying it was the only way to save his son. He didn't say how or why, he just figured it'd help him somehow. And indeed it did. The Token took him straight to the Temple of the Reds."

  "Impossible!"

  A small butterfly fluttered past Rinacht and landed gently on Haden's head. Another landed on his arm.

  Rinacht noticed a few moths that had darted back and forth in the middle of the room. They suddenly lined up next to each other and froze in mid air, still beating their wings. They just hovered. The butterflies launched up from Haden and joined the moths in their strange hover. More flies and other small insects joined the group until together they had created an unmistakable solid line floating in mid air. The line pointed straight down the middle of the room to the north.

  The General stared at Haden in disbelief. "A just cause and physical evidence? This man, your employer, was he Petra?"

  "No. Zo."

  The General slammed his fist on the desk. "Zo!" The hovering insects broke formation and fluttered away. "Where is this man now?" He demanded.

  "I left him on the mountain 12 hours ago."

  "Could you find your way back?"

  "Yes. That is why I came."

  "Good. I'm sending you with my 12th Battalion. Find him and bring him back here.
We must contain this. Where's rest of the Token?"

  "He still has two other pieces."

  The General strolled up behind Rinacht and patted him on the back. "Rinacht, I know coming back here wasn't an easy thing to do. I commend you for facing your fears in light of what needed to be done. You've rescued part of the Token. You cannot fathom the service you've done for your country. Now my son, go and save the rest of it!

  -

  The Holy Master Cleric sat at his unnecessarily large desk scribbling a note on a pad of paper. An aid approached him from the side and whispered in his ear.

  "Yes, I was expecting a report, but I'll hear from him directly." He answered the aid.

  She signaled to the door assistant who ushered a young soldier into the room. They hurried across the polished tile floor, the distance exaggerated by unbroken emptiness between the door and the Holy Master's desk.

  "Thank you for your faithful service young man." The Holy Master Cleric greeted the soldier. "We are indebted to the young souls who serve us in your capacity. But please, you wished to speak to me?" He signaled for the soldier to come closer.

  "Yes, your holiness. Due to the nature of the report I felt it would be best to deliver it personally." The soldier explained.

  "OK."

  "We were under order to follow the Zo boy and his guardian when they took an unexpected trip into the mountains outside the city. The boy insisted on going up a steep, winding trail despite his chair. Near the top of the trail, he wandered off into the underbrush and came back with a white glowing object.

  "Upon closer inspection we determined it to be the Holy Botann Token."

  "The Token? Your certain?" His Holy Master Cleric asked.

  "We're fairly certain, yes." The soldier said.

  "We'll need you to guide other personnel to the location as soon as you can."

  "Of Course." The soldier said.

  "Thank you, young man." He motioned to the door. The soldier turned and hurried the same way he'd come. The Holy Master leaned over to speak as if there were someone on his right even though no one was there. As soon as he made the motion an assistant rushed up to fill the empty space and hear the Master's command.