Peter Carrot-top

  Chapter 12

  Off to War - Part 2

  Though one secret means Baja, a secret and holy place,

  a mystery to mankind and two lies, which meant the first

  was when Sam and his family were being exiled from Baja

  over a lie told by Marcus his brother. And the other lie

  was that Bella was not his friend and that she was partners

  with Marcus in some way. But there was more to the secret

  message of the guardian angels. Sam had yet to put the

  remaining pieces together, but he was close to doing so.

  Sam had feared that he might have to kill his brother

  for Baja to eventually have peace. The army had to move on;

  they must defeat the seven wizards of the forest before all

  life on Baja was destroyed forever.

  The army marched through the forest for hours. Jane

  noticed that the plants, vines, trees and shrubs were dying

  again, and she knew that evil was not so far away. Oscar

  walked in front, to protect the army with his keen senses

  he would notify them of danger. Jane let everyone know that

  evil would soon be approaching because all of her trees

  were still dying and there was no good reason for it.

  Sam knelt down to the ground, he could hear the

  stomping of horse hooves; they were coming faster and

  faster. Oscar ran toward Jane and told her that they must

  get off of the main path, an army of riders was coming and

  they would not be able to defeat them. Jane let everyone

  know to get off of the main path and into a swamp area.

  They had to move quickly because the seven wizards

  were sending out their riders to capture them. Everyone

  immediately went off into a dark swamp area where there was

  little light, and it was wet and cold. Suddenly everyone

  could hear the loud sounds of the horse riders; they were

  coming through the forest at the speed of terror. Trees

  were being knocked down and trampled over by the massive

  size of the riders and their horses.

  The riders were of unknown origins, and came onto the

  planet of Baja to seek and destroy. They were made up of

  men and women that rode together through the planets

  causing havoc and destruction. Somehow these riders made a

  deal with the seven wizards, and were now working with them

  to destroy Baja. The riders' faces were never seen; they

  wore military armor and clothing that had the red glow of

  symbols and hieroglyphics.

  They had stiff movements, like that of a puppet, and

  they dressed all in black and rode massive wild horses. The

  horses were made up of tiger and horse blended together. It

  seemed as if they had been crossbred with each other.

  Therefore, they were great hunters. The Carrot-Tops and

  their army were no match for the riders, so they decided to

  split up, and made a vow that if anyone got caught not to

  give away any information.

  As the agreement took place, the swamp began to split

  apart, and the wild movement of the water separated the

  army. Some went down dark tunnels leading to nowhere, and

  others went downstream. Jane and Samantha went down the

  dark tunnel, while Red Fox, David and Sam went downstream.

  Jane tired to stay close to Sam, but the water was too

  rough and they split apart. The Ambassador Forest was new

  to everyone, and no one knew where they were going.

  Suddenly Oscar caught up with Jane and Samantha, and

  they all began to sink down into another part of the

  forest. It was as if they were swimming through sand. This

  part of the forest was covered in sand, golden sand that

  glittered so much that Jane and the few remaining army

  fighters with her could not see a thing. Then the forest

  opened up again, and spit Jane and the army into a valley

  of sand.

  As Jane and the fighters tumbled to the ground,

  everyone was a little light-headed from the wild ride that

  they had just taken. Jane quickly ordered everyone to get

  up and stay alert, but there were still a few who were a

  little out of it. Once everyone was okay, Samantha and Jane

  moved on with their plan, which was to get out of the

  Ambassador Forest with the key.

  Everyone agreed that this was the only way to save

  Baja; no matter what happened, the last person must fight

  for honor and to the death to save Baja. As Jane and her

  army looked around, everything was made of sand. There were

  sand domes, sand houses, mountains made of sand, and there

  was even a sand lake. Though the sand moved like water, it

  was made up of only sand. The lake was very dangerous, as

  Jane and her army soon found out.

  One fighter went to simply touch the sand lake, and it

  pulled her in; there was nothing anyone could do. The thick

  sand soon swallowed up another of Jane's fighters as they

  tired to save the first one. The lake was like quicksand;

  once it got a hold of your body, there was no letting go.

  Jane and her fighters could hear the woman's screams of

  terror and fear.

  "Move away from the lake," said Samantha as she

  quickly secured the area.

  Oscar went ahead of the pack to sniff for danger that

  might lie ahead. The loss of two fighters weighed heavily

  on Jane's heart, and she began to weep. Samantha was there

  to quickly console her, telling Jane that she could not cry

  in front of her army or they would become weak and never

  respect her. Jane quickly wiped away her tears and moved on.

  The desert sand was now getting to the fighters; they

  were becoming fatigued and began to see things that were

  not there. Jane informed Samantha that hysteria might be

  breaking out in the army. So Jane and Samantha took Oscar

  to search for water or food. All Jane needed was a small

  water plant, and she could have it produce enough water to

  supply the army. Everyone with a little strength began to

  search and dig for a water plant, with no luck.

  Most gave up and sat down to catch their breath. The

  sand area was an amazing sight to see, but was a harsh

  place to live. Yet, at one point in time, this area had

  been inhabited by someone; and this made Jane want to

  search even more for people. Suddenly Jane saw someone

  looking out of one of the dome windows, but when she looked

  back, the face had all but disappeared.

  Jane went on to see what she had seen. Oscar and

  Samantha walked over a large hill, and they got the shock

  of their lives. Over the hill lay a large town filled with

  people. They had never been seen by anyone before. In all

  of Samantha's travels, she had never seen anything like

  this; the people were all made of sand! They had the

  appearance of a human, but were nothing more than sand.

  Jane watched as one of the sand people blended into

  the walls and rocks. These people could manipulate their

  bodies into anything that had to do with sand. They could

  change into rocks, mountains, and even stones. When the

  sand people saw Jane, Oscar and Samantha approaching, they
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  began to hide and turn into objects of sand. Jane began to

  speak to the sand people.

  "We come in peace," said Jane.

  But this did no good, the sand people began to

  evaporate into sand. Then suddenly dust and sand began to

  fly into the air like a sand storm, pushing and moving

  everything around. Jane and the others began to run for

  their lives back over the hill, but the sand formed an arm

  and grabbed Samantha by the legs. She began to fight and

  Oscar jumped into the storm to rescue her. The sand then

  dropped Samantha to the ground and formed itself into a

  huge dog the size of Oscar, and began to fight Oscar.

  "We must go!" said Samantha to Jane.

  Jane did not want to leave Oscar, and she painfully

  turned away and began to run as Oscar kept the sand

  creature occupied. As Jane and Samantha were running, they

  stumbled on to a water plant. Jane quickly used her powers

  to grow it out of the ground. The water plant flourished

  and water began to burst from its leaves and petals.

  Jane continued to use her powers to make the plant

  bigger and bigger; then she commanded it to send its roots

  with water to the remaining fighters over the hills. The

  plant obeyed Jane's orders, and sent it roots over the hill

  to the remaining fighters who were weary and depleted of

  water. The roots burst through the sand, carrying water to

  the thirsty. Suddenly the roots shot out of the ground and

  sprayed the thirsty fighters with water. They jumped up and

  began to cheer for Jane as they regained their strength

  from every sip of fresh water.

  Meanwhile, over the hill, Jane, Oscar and Samantha

  were still battling the sand creature. When Jane saw that

  Oscar was in trouble, she took the roots of the water plant

  and began to spray water onto the sand creature. This made

  the creature soaking wet and it could not move. Its sand

  form had now become mud and it was too damp and heavy to

  move.

  The sand creature fell to the floor, releasing Oscar.

  Everyone could hear the loud thumping as chunks of sand

  fell to the floor. That was the reason that no water was

  stored here, it was death to the sand people. When humans

  came, the sand people knew that humans needed water, and

  because of this, humans were always frightened away.

  Jane wanted to explain to the sand people that the

  sand would dry out and everything would be back to normal,

  but no one said anything. The sand people came up and

  retrieved the body of their beloved that was in big chunks.

  A wild sand storm came, and it took away everything that

  was made of sand. Jane and the others weren't hurt, but the

  sand storm was like a tornado, coming in and picking and

  choosing everything in sight.

  After the storm was over, everything that was made of

  sand was gone, and the sand now revealed a hidden temple

  that had been hidden for millions of years below the

  ground. Jane and her fighters had found the temple because

  she got the sand people to move, and with them moving they

  left a clue to the world of Baja. Jane and Samantha

  summoned her fighters from over the hill. They all came

  running, ready to fight; they had now become full of

  strength as they once were.

  As the fighters came over the hill, their eyes were

  set on the beautiful hidden temple, which was made of pure

  silver and mercury. The temple was in the form of a round

  sphere. There was a very small door opening, and it would

  open and close every few minutes. Jane and Samantha watched

  and timed the door. As the army came over the hill,

  everyone approached the temple together.

  It were such an amazing sight to see; there were rings

  like Saturn around the sphere, and huge sculptures made of

  steel guarded the entrance, from a large snake to a kingsize

  dragons. These sculptures were made of the finest

  metal and top craftsmanship. The detail work on the temple

  was amazing; it had ten planets that circled its atmosphere

  way up above.

  For some reason, Jane had seen one of these planets

  before and began to gaze upon it, but it had not yet come

  to her as to where she'd seen it before. Nevertheless, Jane

  ordered a few men to stay outside, and a few to go in with

  her and Samantha to investigate. As Jane and her fighters

  came closer to the temple, it began to glow with the

  symbols of Baja. This was something they had recognized

  before. As Jane came to the entrance of the temple it read:

  "The first temple of Baja, The temple called Azul."

  Samantha interrupted Jane and told her that there were

  stories about this temple in the library of Baja. This

  temple was said to be a myth, and in it lies the true key

  to the elders.

  "The true key?" said Jane.

  Samantha went on to tell Jane that legends had it that

  the elders put out a fake key, and the true key to their

  existence was hidden in the temple. If the story was true,

  then Jane and her family were not responsible for the lost

  key of Baja; hope formed in Jane's eyes. Maybe the legend

  was true, and that there might be another key that could

  awaken the elders and have them save Baja, and clear her

  family's name.

  Jane kept thinking this to herself, and marched

  without fear into the temple of Azul. She and her fighters

  timed the door, and waited for the exact moment that the

  door would open again. They hurried and jumped into the

  doorway before the door closed again. Once inside, the

  temple looked as if it was the day it was built; everything

  was immaculate. There was no dust or debris inside; there

  were solar lights all around. Walking inside was like

  walking through a maze; there were twists and turns that

  led Jane and her team right back to where they had started.

  Jane noticed an unusual painting on the walls; it was

  of a man and a little boy crossing a river in a small boat,

  and the man was pointing. Jane followed where he was

  pointing, and began to test the theory that a message must

  be hidden in the picture. It pointed to a huge lever in the

  side of a wall. Jane asked Samantha to use her ninja skills

  and jump to release the lever. It stood out to Jane

  because, in the area, the lever was the only thing adorned

  with rubies, gold, and silver. If it was just a lever, it

  would not be as nice as this one was. Samantha jumped into

  the air, flipped the lever, and suddenly the floor began to

  move in a circle. Oscar began to hiss and scratched at the

  floor.

  "Keep cool," said Jane to Oscar, as everyone waited to

  see what this floor was about to reveal.

  The floor kept on rotating until it was high in the

  air. Suddenly the air began to get thick, and it was harder

  to breathe. Most of the fighters were getting lightheaded

  and faint; some had nose bleeds, but Jane and Samantha

  wanted to see what lay ahead. After a short ride, Saman
tha

  and Jane got to their feet and discovered that they were up

  above the temple; where the ten planets lay.

  It was an amazing sight to see, being on top of a

  temple, looking over the ten planets. They looked close

  enough that if your hands were stretched out, you could

  touch them. Then the dial on the floor tilted over, sending

  Jane, Samantha and a few of the fighters flying into a

  planet; it was like flying through a hoop of fire. Once in

  the planet, Jane and her fighters were faced by a huge rock

  monster. The monster had once been tied to chains, as Jane

  and her fighters saw the old loose chains dangling from its

  hands and legs. The rock monster immediately began to throw

  huge stones at the army. It would burp up five to ten rocks

  at a time, and then throw them at Jane and her fighters.

  Everyone scattered out of the way. To this creature,

  this was nothing more than a game, but to Jane and her

  fighters, this was their lives. Everyone split up and tried

  to trick the rock monster by running in different patterns,

  but the monster had different plans. It burped out rocks

  and shaped them into tiny rock monsters for each of Jane's

  fighters.

  Jane and her team were now in the fight of their

  lives. The only way to stop this rock monster was to clog

  up its mouth so that it would stop burping up little rock

  monsters. Samantha moved in on the large rock monster with

  her ninja skills, kicking and punching it in the mouth, but

  the monster was affected very little. So the team had to

  devise another plan; and they came up with a plan called

  divide and conquer.

  As the tiny rock monsters were chasing the other

  fighters, the fighters came together and crossed paths. By

  doing this, they caused the rock monsters to collide with

  one another causing a big burst of dust and stone particles

  into the air. The huge rock monster began to cry as his

  children were destroyed. So he then tried to burp out more

  little rock monsters, but Jane and her fighters were not

  having it. They all climbed up onto the rock monster,

  starting from his feet to his head.

  Some fighters tickled his toes and the creature began

  to laugh and then stumble. The other army of men continued

  to crawl on the creature, causing it to sway in one

  direction. As it swayed, it began to fall, and as it fell,

  the fighters jumped off, one by one; leaving the creature

  to fall on its own. It began to sway heavily, causing it to

  stumble quickly.

  All of a sudden, the creature fell to its knees with a

  loud pounding, shaking the ground and everything around it.

  It had landed so hard that its stone structure started to

  crack and crumble. Jane ordered all the fighters to take

  cover; the creature was about to blow any minute. Just as

  the fighters ran for safety, the creature began to break

  apart; sending rocks flying into the air, almost knocking

  down some of the fighters. The huge creature broke into

  tiny pieces, sending pieces of its body into the atmosphere.

  "Great job, team," said Samantha.

  The fighters began to roar in victory over another

  win. But Jane was not that thrilled.

  "If this was easy, I would not like to see what hard

  looks like," said Jane.

  Then a piece of the golden key emerged out of a left

  behind stone; it glittered in the sky. Jane quickly went

  and picked it up. She and her fighters glanced over the

  key; it was so beautiful to gaze upon, the way and manner

  by which the key was made took skill and perfection. All

  the codes and hieroglyphics of Baja were inlaid on the key,

  from the tiniest of details to the large drawings;

  everything was done with perfection and care.

  Jane quickly wrapped the key in a sack cloth and hid

  it away from everyone by placing it in Oscar's pouch.

  She whispered in Oscar ear, "Don't let this out of

  your sight."

  "You have my word," said Oscar.

  Then a magical door opened and the fighters with their

  leader ran out as quickly as they could. The magical door

  led to a dark cellar where there were skeleton bones of

  armies who had tried to come and get the magical key. The

  elders were smart enough to break the key up into three

  pieces. Dead men tell very few tales, as their bones lay on

  the cold floor.

  Jane looked over the men whose bones lay lifeless, and

  noticed that they were all from the Baja royal guards. But,

  why was Baja sending men on a secret mission to find a key

  that never existed? Jane realized that the reason these men

  were on a secret mission was that someone had found out

  that the key Sam lost might not have been the key after all.

  That's why her family was allowed to come back into

  Baja. So therefore someone in high power must know that

  they made a mistake, and never informed her and her family.

  The one person that came to Jane's mind was Mr. Stewart,

  the ruler and caretaker of Baja. Now everything started to

  make a whole lot of sense, but Jane had to get the message

  to her husband and friends. That meant that she would have

  to find them.

  As Jane and her fighters were leaving, a skeleton of

  an army solider began to move and talk! His bones had dust

  all over them; his army uniform that was once pristine and

  clean was nothing more than rags. As he walked toward Jane,

  his bones began to fall apart, but he managed to catch her

  leg. Holding on with all of his might he screamed.

  "You have birthed the boy king who would come and save

  us; hurry and leave before the dark falls."

  And then the solider pointed toward a sealed doorway.

  This was a little eerie and scary to Jane and her fighters,

  but nevertheless, they had to move on. Jane cautiously

  looked back at the solider and he was not there anymore. As

  Jane looked around, she noticed the soldier's bones walking

  away into a bright light.

  "Let's get out of here," said Jane.

  The fighters quickly broke the seal and moved out the

  door leading underground. At first there were no lights or

  anything in sight. All that Jane and her fighters could see

  was blackness. One fighter lit a match and was frightened

  by what he saw. At first they all saw a huge beast, but as

  the light got brighter, they realized that it was just a

  statue.

  Oscar demanded that everyone stop, and they quickly

  did. Oscar told Jane that this must be the tunnel and

  cities that her mother and other citizens of Baja built for

  the coming war. It was so much for Jane to take in; she

  began to move very cautiously through the tunnel. As they

  came closer and closer, they could hear people talking and

  whispering. Jane quickly cautioned her fighters to move

  slowly, and that this could be a trap.

  As they got to the end of the tunnel, there was a big

  barn fire going on. People were chanting and dancing around

  a huge
statue; the people almost seemed to be in a place of

  worship, and others were going about their daily duties.

  From up above, Jane and her fighters were at least twenty

  feet up. They did not know how to get down; so Samantha,

  without thinking, used her ninja skills to flip and twirl

  into the air; landing like a cat on her feet, right in

  front of the ceremonial fire.

  Some of the people below were impressed, while the

  worshipers were very upset that Samantha had ruined their

  ceremonial dance. One worshiper began to spit at Samantha,

  speaking in a different tongue, and called her a devil and

  a hypocrite. Samantha was a tough girl, and demanded to

  know who was in charge. One of the worshipers pointed to a

  man in a long red robe; it seemed to catch Samantha's eyes

  by the way it moved through the air like a snake crawling

  on the floor. The robe itself was hypnotizing and jaw

  dropping; it glowed with the symbols of Baja and other

  symbols no one had ever seen.

  "Leader, I need a word with you," said Samantha.

  As the figure turned around, Samantha had the shock of

  her life; it was Mr. Stewart, the ruler and keeper of Baja.

  Mr. Stewart came closer to her, mumbling, "Don't I

  know you, young lady?"

  "Of course you do, I am Samantha Grey, fighter of the

  Carrot-Top family, and what are you doing here?"

  The look on Mr. Stewart's face was one of shock and

  disbelief. He began to look around the room, secretly

  wondering where the others were. Samantha explained that

  they were stuck on the ledge up top. Mr. Stewart

  immediately summoned the underground citizens to retrieve

  the others.

  "You have a lot of explaining to do," said Samantha.

  "I owe you no explanation," said Mr. Stewart.

  Then Jane and a few of her fighters were pushed into

  the area where Samantha and Mr. Stewart were having their

  private conversation.

  "Mr. Stewart! What are you doing here?" said Jane.

  Mr. Stewart was in shock to see that it was Jane

  Carrot-Top, and began to slur his words. Jane wanted an

  explanation, and she wanted it now. To her, the mystery of

  the key and why they were let back into Baja was now

  solved. But Jane was far from the truth. As Mr. Stewart was

  about to explain to Jane and her fighters the situation,

  Oscar attacked him, snarling and nipping at his face.

  "Don't trust him, he's evil," said Oscar.

  Jane began to rub Oscar on the back, letting him know

  that she agreed with him, and Oscar quickly jumped off of

  Mr. Stewart keeping a close eye on him. After a few minutes

  for Mr. Stewart to catch his breath, he took Jane and her

  fighters to a large gathering area where they were

  introduced as the mother and the fighters of the boy king.

  The crowd began to clap, and offered Jane and her

  fighters everything that they could imagine, from expensive

  jewels to food and clean clothing. But Jane was not into

  all of this, and Mr. Stewart began to tell her that this

  was the tunnel that her mother and mother-in-law and

  father-in-law helped construct. Mr. Stewart let Jane know

  that a war was coming and he must make sure that at least a

  million people of Baja survived, and the only way to do

  that was to set Sam Carrot-Top up as a destructor of Baja,

  the evil one. The people of Baja needed a lie to get them

  into the mode of saving their planet.