by JH Terry
XXXII: The Legan Path and Future Odyssey
Ondess docked the boat near the forest surrounding Lupo once they reached the canal’s end. As Ondess held the boat near the shore Tom, Peter, and Kate jumped out onto the land. After they were out Ondess then came out of the boat. Once they were all out the boat began to travel back to the dungeon.
“Why is it doing that?” asked Kate.
“It was designed to do that. There is a suction tube connected to the boat that recoils it back into the dungeon area.”
“Clever,” said Peter.
“Not really,” said Ondess, “the most clever thing in the world would be not to use all of that energy for such a vanity as this.”
“At least it doesn’t let anyone else know that we were here,” said Tom.
“That is true,” replied Ondess. “Follow me, we are going into the forest by the Legan Path. No one ever takes this route, for there is the main road by the Zinla Pass and this route is very bumpy.”
As they began to walk in the path in the order Ondess, Peter, Kate, and Tom, Ondess heard a noise to her right. Suddenly, someone jumped out of the forest from the right with a sword in his or her hand aimed at Ondess.
“Are you going to cut or stand there all day?” asked Ondess.
“I am not one to shed blood,” said the figure as it turned on a dim light. Coming out of the darkness they saw that it was Onden. “I am sorry that I’m late, but when your vision came I was already asleep.”
“Vision?” asked Tom.
“Onden and I were born four years apart, but we are able to communicate by telepathy,” stated Ondess. “It is something our parents were able to do. It is actually an art, called Opano. It is very rare and only passed along from one generation to another.”
“What other freaky things are we to encounter?” asked Kate with a sharp tongue.
“Just because you cannot comprehend something, doesn’t mean it is freaky,” said Onden.
“Let’s not argue,” said Ondess, “we must hurry through the Legan Path to the port city of Autig. From there we must cross the Dena River, with its white water rapids to Mergot. There, we shall enlist the aid of Ugruline by asking he may join us from the politicians.”
“You are going to enlist Ugruline’s aid?” asked Onden surprised.
“Yes, Onden, he is the best warrior of our land, even you know that. After this we will travel through the Forest of Haber to Elitomy, R-band Land, and then by row boat to Denia.”
“It sounds long,” said Peter with a look of grief.
“It may sound that way, but we shall be journeying quickly to reach Denia before six days’ time. We must hurry for as we age with each day, in your world people age at a week, and if we stay too long the explanation of your miraculous lack of change in age will not be able to be easily explained. For now, we must hurry, for the time is slowly ebbing away from us, and it is not in our favor.”
Tom, Peter, Kate, Ondess and Onden, in the order of Onden, Kate, Peter, Tom, and Ondess, walked along the Legan Path, following Onden’s dimmed light to maintain their path. In the distance, along his room’s balcony, King Eron watched as the light faded away, leading him to the realization that he might never see his grandchildren ever again.
Ondess looked back at the balcony, remembering those last words that her grandfather said to her, “I shall keep you in my thoughts always.”
“As shall I, grandfather, as shall I.”
“Ondess,” whispered Tom from behind, “come along or you’ll get lost or hurt.”
Ondess shook her head in agreement and walked closer to Tom . She walked close to him to see that he bravely walked forward, but something from behind still remained in his heart.
“You miss your family?” asked Ondess of Tom.
“Yes, a lot,” said Tom slightly painfully. “I guess adventures are not always the best thing, especially without one’s family. And you, do you miss your family?”
“Yes,” said Ondess reminiscing upon the past. “I miss them very much, but I know that we must go on and that what we are doing is worth that painful necessity. You see Tom, this is only the beginning of our journey. This is the start of our future filled with adventure, pain, and hopefully triumph on this journey, no odyssey of our own making. However, no odyssey is without its own tragedy as in that of the story of Odysseus, and yet with our journey there is something greater being fought for, for we are not fighting for our own lives, but the lives of all those in the universe. No adventure, no deed has been as great as that, even by all of the imaginations of mankind.” Tom looked to Ondess suddenly, understanding her truly as one of simple but true words. “Come along Tom on this odyssey not as a mere British boy with blue eyes, dark brown hair, and an astute mind, but as a great hero going forth all for the greatest sacrifice of all, to help mankind despite their preferences. Even people today celebrate Jesus Christ for doing the same deed, over two thousand years after his birth. I am sure he would be proud of you of doing a true deed that will be remembered if not by all then by Altiniums for at least another two thousand. What matters in the end is not the fighting, training, or fear in our souls, but the fact that we will have made better the lives of millions from our help. This is enough for me to die with happiness in my soul.” Tom looked to Ondess and shook his head in agreement. “Now, let’s go fulfill our destiny. Let’s fulfill our own odyssey filled with the danger of a thousand creatures and still live to tell the tale to our grandchildren.”
“Yes,” said Tom in agreement. “Let’s go and live out this adventure that we are such an integral part of.” Tom and Ondess returned to following Onden along the unforeseen path that lay ahead of them all, looming upon their fates.