by JH Terry
XXXII: A Hurried Escape
“I knew this would happen,” said Kate the hundredth time to Tom and Peter in the palace room in which they were under house arrest. They were dressed in their pajamas and bathrobes. Tom and Peter were on the sofa as Kate walked back and forth in front of the sofa. As Kate talked, Peter mimicked her with Tom smiling at how well Peter did it. “Now, more than likely, we will die here. I’ll never be able to see another movie again, or even have the satisfaction of yelling at Peter in Mom’s presence, earning her support. My wonderful life is now at an end.”
“Would you stop complaining?” asked Tom of Kate. “The past is over, we must look at the future.”
“You mean our imminent doom?” asked Kate.
“I don’t want to die now Tom, not before college, anyway,” said Peter. “They say the best years are at college, especially without you know who.”
“What do you mean by that?” snapped Kate at Peter.
“Stop it, Kate,” said Tom, “there is no doom before us. Anyway, what we really should be perplexed about is Akemi. She gave us her word that she would see us safely back, but lately she acted like we didn’t exist. I don’t understand her change in attitude.”
“I can’t explain it,” said Peter. “I guess she saw us as a ticket back here for her granddad to look up to her, but when we weren’t, she just despised us for her own folly.”
“She was so sure, as well. Why didn’t she find more proof?” asked Kate.
“There must be another reason, for how did she know where I was or that I had the dreams? It was not written in that book of prophecies. There is something lacking in her reasoning,” said Tom.
“I do not know what it is, but she certainly gives me the creeps,” said Peter.
Suddenly, outside of the door, they heard a ‘thud’ sound, followed by something roll down on the outside wall.
“Who’s that?” asked Kate.
“Stay behind the sofa,” said Tom, “I’ll be behind the door.”
A clanking of metal was heard, following an object entering the door’s lock. Tom stood behind the door with a candleholder in his right hand to use to knock the entering figure or figures out. The door opened followed by a figure entering the room. Tom turned on the light to see that it was Ondess. She was wearing a cornflower blue cape, pants, clog sneakers, and long-sleeved spandex-like tunic. Along her waist she wore a black belt with several compartments and a sword in its scabbard.
“Ondess, what are you doing here?” asked Tom.
“I have come to take you out of here. Please, close the door.” Tom closed the door as Kate and Peter came out of their refuge. “I must check one thing first. Tom, show me your legs up to the knee. Trust me, I must only check something.”
Tom lifted up his pants’ legs up to the knee. Ondess checked the left leg, but found nothing. Looking on the right leg, she saw on the front there was a thumb-sized birthmark shaped like the island of Altium. “It is you,” said Ondess looking up to Tom, “you are the chosen one.”
“But what about what they said before?” asked Kate slightly perplexed.
“The translation was incorrect. I have been trying to translate the prophecies for some time now, and my assistant was able to decipher the true meaning of the chosen one’s features today.”
“But I thought that the true book of the prophecies was burned in the Great Fire of Lupo,” asked Tom.
“Yes, it was, but I translated it from the original text written by a reclusive monk before that fire, the correct text. You bear the mark Tom, your journey has not been in vain.”
“What do we do now?” asked Tom.
“Now we get ready. I have brought with me enough provisions for us all until we reach Mergot in the south. Just bring along your things, and hurry before the others begin to notice.”
Tom, Peter, and Kate quickly gathered their things, not letting anything go amiss. When they were ready, Ondess said, “Let’s go.”
Ondess went over to a narrow section of wall at an elevation at a corner. “Stand back,” she said to the others, who stood near the sofa that was a good distance away. Ondess pushed against the wall with all of her might and quickly ran away from it as it opened forward, leading to a hidden, lighted staircase going downwards.
“Where did it come from?” asked Peter.
“Built to King Gorly’s specifications, the palace has several hidden chambers, hallways, and staircases so that Gorly could watch over his wife and children, but also to sneak on political rivals and what deeds they were doing. It kept him in power until the day he died.”
“I guess it is best not to underestimate the necessity of a good stairway,” said Peter.
Suddenly they heard a noise coming from outside of the door. “Hurry inside!” whispered Ondess to Tom, Peter, and Kate. Once they were inside Ondess closed the door, which sounded as if it closed by a suction force. Soon after this the door to the room opened. Ondess, Tom, Peter, and Kate were able to see into the room through the door, which acted like a two-way mirror.
“Wicked,” said Peter.
“Amazing,” said Kate.
“Sh!” whispered Ondess to them all.
They saw Akemi enter the room followed by Gerald. “Where are they?” asked Akemi angered.
“I do not know,” said Gerald rubbing his head. “I was just sitting in the hallway when something out of nowhere hit me over the head with something hard. Then I woke up when you came by and I noticed my key was gone and the door opened.”
“They should have hit your head harder, it might have made up for your stupidity. They must have come by a camouflaging cloak. There are several who own them in Altium, but even fewer in Gordana, Lupo, or in the palace,” said Akemi as she looked at the place where Tom, Peter, Kate, and Ondess were standing. Akemi walked closer to where they were and stared directly at Ondess, who held the others back behind her with her arms. Suddenly another man entered the room, he was the leader of the Palace Guard.
“Princess Akemi,” said the man.
“What is it?” asked Akemi.
“What has happened to the missing children?”
“They are still lost and not found. We will find nothing here,” said Akemi as she turned around to Gerald. “Let’s check the palace to see who else is missing.” Akemi, Gerald, and the leader of the Palace Guard quickly left the room.
“That was close,” whispered Peter.
“Yes,” said Ondess unsure of what had just happened. “Let’s go down the stairs.”
They walked down the stairs for a short period of time until they came to the end, made of solid rock on all sides.
“There’s no way out of here!” exclaimed Kate.
“Sh!” whispered Ondess to Kate. “This place is made of rock and echoes can be heard everywhere.”
“That is nice to know, but what about getting out of here?” whispered Kate.
“Appearance and reality are not always the same,” said Ondess, “even Shakespeare knew that.” Ondess walked towards the wall and pushed a stone right above Tom’s head. She then walked towards the wall opposite the stairway’s end and was able to walk right through the wall. “Come along,” she said on the other side even though they could not see her. Tom, Peter, and Kate, to their astonishment, were also able to walk through the wall. “You see,” said Ondess.
“Awesome,” said Peter. “Can we do it again?”
“No, we must go or else we will never leave this place.”
“Where are we?” asked Kate as they stood in an area of pitch black.
“The dungeon,” said Ondess as the dungeon suddenly lighted up by torches upon hearing her voice. The torches lit up from where they stood to the opposite side in a full circle. All of the pillars of oil were connected to each other. Before them was a small canal leading from the dungeon area, outside, with a boat in it. Beyond the canal, in the direction in front of them, on the side past the canal, the bones of several
were on the ground and still hanging on the walls, with rats still gleaning them though there was hardly anything left. Some still had looks of horror, grief, and acceptance in the body language of their skeletons.
“To think how they suffered,” said Tom.
“I know,” said Ondess. “Even we had our Dark Ages. Let’s get into the boat. Tom, you and I shall row towards the left out of the dungeon.”
After they had all gotten into the boat, Tom and Ondess began to row the boat. Silently, they came out of the dungeon area to the gardens surrounding the palace. As they left, the fire in the pillars of the dungeon dimmed and finally extinguished.