Chapter 14
Losing a Friend
The two women began to duck and dodge the branches as
Oscar ran and whipped through the trees. Jane and Samantha
held on tight, because Oscar was not slowing down. Through
the trees and over streams and hills, Oscar ran with power,
trampling the dead trees and leaves that filled the ground.
Jane noticed that all of her plants were dying, even the
ones she'd tried to save. They cried out for her, but she
could not stop, she yelled.
"I promise I will be back to save you all, and
everyone who is responsible for this will pay!"
But this did nothing to heal the hurt all of the
plants and trees were feeling; they just cried out for her
more. Jane felt terrible inside; but Samantha reminded Jane
that there was no way that they could stop right now, they
must keep going, and she promised Jane that she would come
back with her to heal her beloved plants.
Right now, they were in a middle of a war. Jane
quickly shied away from the cries of her plants, turning a
blind eye in order to not feel the pain. Yet, out of the
corner of her eye, she noticed that her plants and all the
vegetation were sick, something was killing them very
rapidly. Tears began to flow from her eyes. She quickly hid
the tears from Samantha, but everyone knew she was hurting.
Suddenly Oscar came to a stop as a huge tree fell in
their way. The tree was dying and begged Jane for help.
"Help us, master," they all cried.
Jane and the others watched as the tree did its best
to pick itself off of the ground. It kept crying out for
Jane; this time she couldn't ignore it. She jumped off of
Oscar and began to heal the tree with her touch. Suddenly
the tree's limbs and roots began to flourish with color,
and it picked itself up. Its bark began to get brown again
and the leaves began to grow rapidly.
"Oh! You have the green thumb all right," said Oscar,
as the tree began to heal, and quickly embedded its roots
into the ground.
The tree began to pass along life to the next, then
all of the trees began to rise from the death and dried up
limbs they once had. They began to move wildly in the
winds; praising the heavens for their quick return from
death. Then they bowed to Jane, singing and praising her
name. The trees, one by one, like a set of dominos, fell to
their knees over and over again.
Jane was filled with emotions, and asked the trees to
get up as she wiped the tears from her eyes. One of the
trees took its branch with a little leaf on it and wiped
Jane's face ever so gently, letting her know that they did
care. Oscar once again reminded Jane that they had to
leave; the others were waiting and in need of their help.
Jane immediately thought of a plan, and asked the
trees to help her find her husband and friends. The trees
put their leaves to the ground; they could sense the
heartbeat of anyone. Immediately, they turned their
branches and leaves in the direction they needed to go.
"You must hurry," said the trees.
Jane and Samantha immediately jumped on Oscar's back,
and quickly took off down the path the trees had made for
them. The trees began to wave and say goodbye as Jane and
the others raced through the path. Jane looked back once or
twice to make sure the trees were all right, and she
noticed that the trees were covering up her path so that no
one could track them. Jane was proud of her trees, not only
was she able to save them, but they were able to save her.
So, on their way they went; Oscar flying along, and Jane
and Samantha holding on for dear life.
"We must get there before nightfall," said Jane, as
they passed the many splendors of the Ambassador Forest.
They noticed that everything was now being infected,
mountains and stone structures began to crumble right
before their eyes; rivers and streams began to dry up as if
someone was sucking them up with a straw.
"Baja is dying," said Oscar, as he continued to race
through the forest.
"We must find that rhino plant," said Samantha.
Further up the stream, dead fish and other sea
creatures were gasping for air as there was no water.
Animals were dropping from the sky; every size, every
species, and all were fighting for life. As Oscar continued
to run through the forest, Jane glanced something
spectacular, an old ancient Mayan temple.
There was an eerie feeling of evil coming from it, but
the temple was so beautiful. Huge Mayan statues graced the
entrance, with large rock monsters guarding the temple. At
a closer look, Jane saw that people were being carried in
by chains and ropes. She immediately told Oscar to stop and
get a closer look. Samantha was not thrilled with this
idea, but let Jane do as she wished.
"Let's see if there is anyone we know," said Jane.
Before the words could leave her mouth, her eyes were
on Bella. "Well, well, well; if it's not the brave Bella."
Samantha quickly crouched down behind a tree to get a
better look; and sure enough, it was Bella. They were
bringing some of the fighters that were with Sam and the
others. From a far distance, Samantha spotted David, and
gasped a deep breath of air.
"Oh! No, they caught Sir David," shouted Samantha.
Jane quickly put her hands over Samantha's mouth, as
any little noise could carry far. It was as if Samantha's
words floated on thin air. Suddenly, the words hits Bella's
ears, and she immediately sent her rock dogs out to search.
They were huge, with strong iron breastplates and helmets;
all of their muscles were made of huge rocks. They were
mean-looking and evil; their eyes were completely black and
they constantly foamed at the mouth.
"Go and bring me human flesh," said Bella.
The rock dogs took off running.
"Oh no! We must leave," said Jane, as the rock dogs
came tearing through the forest, knocking down trees and
vegetation.
They had picked up on Jane and the other's scent, and
they were now on the hunt. Jane and Samantha jumped on
Oscar's back and they took off, but it was too late; they
were now being chased by the huge rock dogs. Jane was so
afraid, she closed her eyes from time to time, but every
time she opened them, they would be right there, breathing
down Oscar's back.
Samantha pulled out her iron bow and arrows, and began
to shoot the creatures as they came full force behind them.
But the iron arrows did very little damage to the rock
dogs; a little chip here and there did not slow these
massive creatures down, and the more Samantha shot at them,
the faster they came running.
At this point, Oscar became very tired and began to
slow down; he could no longer run, and he was running out
of energy. Suddenly Oscar collapsed to his knees, throwing
Jane and Samantha into the shrubs and trees. Oscar began to
wrestle with the creatures, but he was outnumbered. The
creatures ganged up on him and began to tear his flesh
apart.
"Don't worry about me, run!" said Oscar.
Jane looked back with tears in her eyes, and began to
take off running, leaving Oscar to fend for himself. He put
up a good fight, until he saw that Jane and Samantha were
far away; then he gave up, his body was savagely torn
apart. His blood filled the ground, the symbols of Baja
that were on Oscar died as he did, and the rock dogs
savagely dragged his body back to their master. Jane and
Samantha got away; they quickly ran through the forest
avoiding all main pathways. As soon as they were well away
from danger, Samantha began to blame Jane for stopping.
"We were told not to stop," said Samantha.
Jane could not do anything but hang her head low,
sobbing. She was in distress; she had lost her best friend
once again, and began to blame herself. Samantha had no
pity; she began to walk along the path without Jane.
Shortly afterwards, Jane followed. No one said a word; both
ladies continued to walk the long pathway, intent on saving
Sam and the others.
"We must keep fighting, we can have a pity party
later," said Samantha.
But deep inside, Samantha was sad and hurt; after all,
Oscar was part of the family. She stopped to get a drink of
water from a stream that was running out of a tall mountain
rock. Samantha washed her face as she let the tears roll
down; she did not want Jane to see how hurt she was. After
all, she was supposed to be a warrior.
As Samantha went to drink the water from the stream
she noticed an awful stench. "This water is poison!"
Jane rushed over and took a quick sniff; the water was
indeed poisoned, and that was the main reason all the
plants, animals and vegetation were dying. The seven
wizards had poisoned the waters with the same sickness as
the wizard Cilus had. Samantha quickly wiped her face with
the sleeves of her shirt to get the poisonous water off of
her face.
"We must keep going," said Jane.
The two ladies got themselves together and began
walking the long pathway. Oscar was no longer alive to move
them fast through the forest, and he was no longer there to
protect and warn them of danger. As they walked, there were
death and destruction everywhere; plants were once again
dying, vegetation had become poisoned, and the stench of
death was in the air. Old tombs and ruins were completely
destroyed, stone and rubble were scattered all over the
ground, statues that once guarded the entrance to the
secret forest were nothing more than dust, and destruction
was as far as the eye could see.
There was no living thing in sight. Jane held back her
emotions; this was no time to stop and save any more plants
and vegetation, because they would die of the poison in the
Ambassador Forest. As Jane walked, she continually looked
back, hoping to find any signs of life anywhere, but there
was just death. Jane promised revenge for the plants of the
forest; she promised that whoever was responsible for this
would pay a great price.
After hours of walking, Jane and Samantha were finally
close to finding Sam and the others. Jane began to run
ahead, awaiting the comfort and loving arms of her husband.
Samantha quickly ran after her, warning her that this could
be a trap. This time, Jane listen, slowly walking instead
of running. Jane and Samantha checked out their
surroundings, but could not find anyone. Jane feared the
worst, thinking that Sam and the others had been captured
like David and held in a prison camp.
"This is the right spot, so where are they?" said
Samantha.
She held out a reflection glass in the sun, and the
glass began to glitter in the sun's rays. Samantha sent out
a code to anyone alive who knew how to send codes by the
sun. At first, nothing happened; so the two ladies sat and
waited. Then, through the dead leaves and vegetation, a
code came back.
"It's them, someone is alive," said Samantha to Jane.
The two ladies began to run and hopped over the dried
up vegetation, hoping to find anyone they had lost. Jane
and Samantha kept running, as if they were running from
someone. Their emotions got the best of them, and both
ladies began to cry uncontrollable.
From beneath the vegetation, out popped Sam and Red
Fox with a few of the remaining fighters. Sam was glad to
see his wife, and was happy that both ladies had made it
out alive. There were no words, just emotions as the
fighters reunited with Jane and Samantha. Sam held Jane in
his arms for a long time, and Red Fox held onto Samantha,
kissing and rubbing her cheeks. The two men apologized to
the ladies for leaving them behind, but both women knew
that there wasn't anything either of them could have done
to save them from what had occurred.
Nevertheless, Sam and Red Fox hurried the ladies out
of the path, letting them know that the wizards had sent
out hunting dogs. Jane began to cry, telling Sam and the
other fighters that the hunting dogs had killed Oscar, and
that David was captured by Bella and her imp friends. Sam's
conscience began to bother him, and he apologized once
again to his wife for not believing her about Bella, and
because of his loyalty to her, he had caused many lives to
be lost, and Baja to crumble. Jane turned around and
comforted her husband, letting him know that all was not
lost, and he would help in saving Baja.
"We must continue to fight or forever be slaves of the
wizards," said Jane.
Red Fox, Sam and the remaining fighter agreed. Sam and
Red Fox quickly took Jane and Samantha into a dune under
the ground. The dune was huge, earthy-looking and felt soft
and loamy. Its tunnels were long; from the scratches and
carvings in the dune, Jane knew that they were in a large
bird's nest. Large white and gold eggs were still lying in
the nest, lifeless.
As Jane and the others walked about ten feet in, there
sat a large bird, slouched over, and foaming at the mouth.
The bird was huge, and had to weight about two thousand
pound. On its head was a large crown made out of pure gold
and the finest silver. Just like most things in Baja, the
crown glowed with codes and symbols. The feathers on the
huge bird began to fall off, one by one causing a big cloud
of dust.
"It is dying," said Red Fox.
He explained that the bird had been poisoned from the
water, and no matter what they did, there was no way of
saving any of the animals unless they got the rhino plant.
Jane and Samantha let the others know that they had
experienced this as well. Samantha rubbed the big bird's
"We will revenge your death."
After this, the bird gave up and died; the huge crown
and symbols stopped glowing. The bird turned into dust and
blew away in the wind.
"We must keep moving," said Red Fox to the others.
He and Sam were pretty beaten up; they looked tired
and worn out. Red Fox was missing patches of fur on his
tail and face, Sam was badly cut and bruised; so were the
other fighters. Yet, everyone vowed to move on and not to
give up. They quickly moved the heavy bird's eyes to the
entrance of the dune to block anyone from coming in, and
then quickly began to move through the underground tunnel.
Inside this magnificent tunnel was a long history of
the protectors of Baja. Sam explained to Jane and Samantha
that the bird's name was Ofus; he was one of the original
founders and protectors of Baja, and he was thousands of
years old. There were many like him, but they were
scattered throughout the region. They were very hard to
find, because they were the first birds to ever live
underground in dunes.
The cave had marvelous paintings of centuries ago; at
times, the paintings seemed to come alive. They showed a
great nation being destroyed and enslaved by the evil of
the seven wizards. The pictures also showed how beautiful
Baja once was; there were moons that came down and sat on
the roads and farm lands. All the people of Baja were
skilled in every level; there were machineries, pyramid
builders, artists, teachers, wizards, and great beasts from
many worlds away.
Everyone lived in peace and harmony; until one day a
great key was found by a little boy who showed it to his
father, who was a code breaker. His father deciphered the
codes and became the most powerful man alive, except he was
evil. He began to rule with an iron fist. Turning people
into slaves, he began to build statues and pyramids to his
liking; instead of serving the people, he served himself.
As Sam was telling the story, Jane got closer to the
drawings and a picture seemed to move. She could not
believe what she was seeing, and rubbed her eyes for a
minute. She grabbed Samantha.
"Look, doesn't this picture remind you of Mr. Stewart?"
Samantha quickly ran her fingers over the picture.
"Yes it does."
Sam and Red Fox wanted to know what was going on. The
two ladies explained that they were in the company of Mr.
Stewart in the underground city, and he had an evil twin
brother. Red Fox questioned Mr. Stewart's truthfulness.
"I never trusted that man, from the moment I first
laid eyes on him," said Red Fox.
"Let's not jump to conclusions, let's wait on the
truth," said Sam.
"We don't have time to wait on the truth, many men
have died!" said Samantha, as they continued to walk
through the tunnel.
The bird was of great importance, he had gold upon
gold, and there were treasure chests and small rooms filled
with gold and valuable gemstones. As they walked further
through the tunnel, they came upon a surprise; there were
three golden doors that glowed with the secret codes of
Baja.
"Where could these doors possibly lead us?" said Sam.
"From the experiences we've had, I am not looking
forward to it," said Jane.
No one knew which door to open, or even to open a door
at all. There were so many mysteries in Baja that did not
need to be opened; so everyone was being careful. The
fighters got ready and held up their few remaining weapons.
Sam and the others took a deep breath and exhaled.
Sam then quickly chose door number two. A bright light
burst out of the door opening; then it swirled around the
room like tornado winds. Everyone fell to the floor and up
against the walls. The ball of light began to spin and make
little white balls of light. They circled around the room,
scanning everyone's faces; then they joined together and
became one huge ball again.
Suddenly the ball let of a huge bang and sucked Sam
and the others into a new dimension. The boom was so loud
that it could be heard for miles. The people in Baja also
felt it, but brushed it off as just an old earthquake. Yet,
the wiser and older citizens knew that it was something
more, and fear came into their eyes. They began to gather
up their grandchildren and closed all their stores. Many
other citizens went on with their daily lives, as if
nothing had happened. But unknown to the ignorant, there
was plenty going on; a war between good and evil was taking
place right under their noses.
Back in the tunnel, there was something strange and
magnificent going on. Sam and the others were in the big
ball; the light was so bright that they had to close their
eyes. Sam and the others could feel themselves tumbling
down; going nowhere. Their eyes were tightly shut and their
hearts were thumping in fear. They had no idea as to where
this was leading them.
One by one, they began to tumble down a long stem-like
vegetation; the further down they went, the less bright the
light became. They were now able to open their eyes, and
when they did they got the shock of their lives; everything
was green and lush. The trees had big red and silver apples
the size of a wagon; the wind blew by tiny fairies that
flew in swarms of at least a million.
Everything seemed to be alive and prospering. After
everyone had tumbled down the hole, they looked back and
saw that they had slid down a huge, big old tree that had
been around for centuries. The birds must have found a way
here by digging. The tree stood about two hundred feet
tall, massive in size, with moss and huge mushroom growing
from its bark.
"Where could we be?" asked one of the fighters.
"I have no clue," said Sam. "People talk about many
worlds in Baja, but many thought it was nothing more than
myths of the old people."
Before anyone moved, Sam made sure everyone was all
right and accounted for.
"Make sure we all stick together," said Red Fox.
Samantha could see in her friends' eyes that they were
scared and tired, especially Red Fox. He was hurting so
badly, but there was nothing she could do. So, Samantha
finally went up to Red Fox and told him to get in the back
and she would lead the crew. There was no arguing with
Samantha; once she made up her mind, she never turned back.
So Red Fox and the others let her lead. The land was
massive; Samantha had no idea where to go first. Everyone
began to look over this immense land and see the huge roots
that were connected to the tree.
"These roots can lead anywhere," said Jane.
Everyone nodded in agreement. The roots seemed to go
in a million different directions, over and under the
planet. As they walked, they
could feel tremors coming from
the ground; whatever it was, it was big, and coming their
way. Samantha told everyone to stay close, and behind the
tall grass and plants. As the team walked on, Jane noticed
that the plants and vegetation were clinging to her. Some
were singing, some were spitting out cotton seeds from
their center, and one plant pulled off its petals and
inside it was filled with fresh drinking water.
Jane gracefully took the water and began to drink; it
was refreshing, and she then passed it on to the others. It
was the freshest water they had tasted in a while. Jane
then took here green thumb and healed the plant where it
had broken the petals off. The petals grew back instantly;
then the plant began to sign, sending codes to the others.
"It seems like they love you," said Sam as he hugged
his wife.
Jane was pleased to see that something was surviving
and living well. Suddenly a magical pathway appeared, and a
huge leaf dropped from the sky.
"They want us to pile in," said Samantha.
Everyone did; the leaf was big enough to hold them
all. Once everyone was in, the plants began to blow on the
leaf, sending Sam and the others flying down the magical
pathway. It seemed like a wild ride, but the plants were
taking them to their destination. The ride went on for a
while, and then it suddenly stopped at the end of the
pathway.
The crew could still hear the loud tremors on the
ground. Whatever it was, it was getting closer and closer.
Jane and the others peaked from behind a huge flower. The
flower came alive and pushed Jane and the others into the
open.
"Master, we have been waiting for you," said the
flower. It sounded sad and depress. "The great war is
coming and you have come to save us."
Big tears dropped from the flower and splashed on Jane
and the others. This flower was huge, like nothing Jane or
the others had ever seen. It had a human face, but its
entire body was a plant, with stems, roots and leaves. Its
skin was pale white with rosy cheeks, and silver titanium
hair the glittered in the sun. The plant was at least
eighteen feet tall, long and slender like a snake. Jane
could not believe her eyes; she stood and gazed upon this
marvelous creature for several minutes.
"Forgive me, but did I make you?" said Jane.
"Of course you did, silly master," said the plant.
It went on to remind Jane of how she formed them. When
Jane was a little girl, she was brought to the elders as a
gifted child. They put in front of Jane a rare plant that
grew on certain children of Baja. When she touched the
plant, it grew, consuming the children with it.
"Oh, yes! I remember, your species was called the
Naffaldorfs."
Jane was amazed to see what her green thumb had done;
for so many years she had blocked out this event. But this
was a short meeting; the plant quickly moved itself back
into the ground as the loud tremors got closer. When Jane
turned around to question her plant, it was gone, totally
vanished back into the earth, obviously something was
coming. All the plants were afraid and began to disappear
into the earth, leaving only a small ant hill dome.
"Don't be afraid, whatever it is, we will help," said
Jane.
But the plants never stuck their heads out, knowing
better of what was coming. As all the plants vanished
underground, this left a better view of the land, and now
that Jane and the others could see better, they noticed
that something was sucking the land dry. The earth began to
crack from the lack of water; there was no rainfall, and
under the ground was the last source of water. Jane knew
then why the plants wanted her here, but what was causing
this was the same thing causing everything else, the
seventh wizard Cilus.
Once Jane and the others found the white rhino plant,
its powers would heal the plants and also Cilus. This was a
risk they had to be taken or everything would die. As
Samantha led the way, she noticed a huge group of strange
monsters were coming. They were about fifteen feet in
height, muscular, and huge; their size alone would frighten
anyone. They came in packs, all carrying white sacks, as if
they were going into the fields to hunt and farm. There was
no running from these huge creatures, and as they got
closer, Jane noticed that they were also a type of
Naffaldorfs with their human appearance, but their bodies
were covered in plant and vegetation. They were a living,
moving garden of plants and flowers. Jane and the others
were speechless.
"Let's try to communicate with them," said Sam.
"That seems like a bad idea," said Red Fox as the
creatures got closer.
Not only did the creatures outnumber them, but their
size alone would frighten the bravest men. Jane and the
others waved to the creatures as they came forward. At
first, Jane thought that the creatures might run them over,
but they stopped. As Jane got a good look, she was amazed
to see the beauty of these creatures; their eyes were pitch
black, some had silver hair, and some had golden hair.
Others wore the finest linens, while some clothing seemed
to be ravaged and worn. Yet, through it all these were a
beautiful species.
As the leader of the creatures knelt down, with a loud
voice, he said, "Master, our master has return."
He shouted it back to the others, and then they all
knelt down, praising Jane. She had no time to bask in the
glory; she wanted to know what was going on. Sadly enough,
the creatures told Jane that the water supply was running
out, and the only way that they could survive was to eat
their relative plants in the meadows. The creature had a
sad look on his face as he told Jane the story. The plants
and flowers in the meadows produced more water, and because
of this, they were a great source of food to the creatures.
Jane was hurt, but knew that they were only killing
the plants in the meadows for survival, not out of evil or
jealousy. That's why the plants in the meadows would bury
themselves in the earth to hide from the creatures. The
creature went on to tell Jane that it was never like this
before, and that something was truly wrong. Baja was under
attack, many of their people had die, and back in their
village many were still dying. They were the gatherers; it
was their responsibility to find water to keep their
species alive.
"Maybe I can heal them," said Jane.
"But we need water," replied the creature.
Jane explain to the creatures that the only way to
stop the vast spread of drought was to find the white rhino
plant.
"Yes, of course, we know where it is," said the
creature.
Jane and the others were glad to hear that, but there
was more; the creatures went on to tell Jane that the rhino
plant was guarded by a satanic creature. No one had come
back alive when trying to get that plant. For centuries
now, many had tried, and failed.
"Well we can't afford to fail," said Jane.
The creatures were ordered by their master Jane to
stay outside the meadows and wait for her return. They were
told not to feed on their distance relatives in the
meadows. Jane promised she would return with plenty of
water. It was a warm statement, but Sam felt as if his wife
had promised something she couldn't deliver. Yet, he never
said a word; he went along with his wife's plan and
supported her every step of the way.
"How do we get there?" said Jane to the creatures.
The creature then whistled up into the air, and an
army of large wind hawks flew down. Their wingspan was long
and massive, they had horns on their heads with a grip for
holding on, and they were sable in color. From their outer
appearance, these birds looked very frightening, but they
were the gentlest creatures in the vast meadows of Baja.
Jane and her fighters were frightened, but quickly
learned that the creatures were very gentle, and they were
their only means for flying up high in the air to get to
the area of the rhino plant. As the hawks landed, they were
well groomed and taken care of. They were strong and
healthy creatures of the air, and they all landed in a
synchronized order, all by rank.
"Who is the leader who would guide us?" said one of
the large birds.
"I would," said Samantha.
Without hesitation, a bird threw Samantha up on its
back, and showed her off as the leader. Once the other
birds recognized their leader, everyone else was loaded
onto the hawks. With their large beaks, they picked up
everyone remaining. Getting up on these huge creatures was
very hard and uncomfortable. Once the hawks were matched
with their riders, their backs sank down to take the form
of the person riding them, making it more comfortable in
flight.
"Now that was cool," said Samantha.
As the hawk fitted her to his back, Samantha and the
others were then given lassos to tie around their bird's
neck for a better grip. Now it was time for take off; up,
up into the air one by one the birds took off, leaving
nothing more than wind in their rider's face. The plants
and leaves on the ground began to blow from the heavy wind
that was propelled by the birds' wings.
"Remember to keep your word," said Jane to the
creatures.
They promised not to harvest any more of the other
plants in the meadows until she returned.
"We will keep our word," said the leader of the
creatures.
As they watched Jane take off into the air, the hawks
were moving so fast that all their riders could see was a
puff of cloud every now and again. The riders held on
tightly as the hawks flew through the air. Soon deep down
below, Jane and the others could hear a loud chanting; then
there was a loud roaring.
"We are here," said the hawk to Samantha.
The leader of the hawks told the others that this was
as far as they could go without being spotted by the manta
rays of the air.
"What are the manta rays?" said Jane.
The hawk explained that there were huge black flying
manta rays; they covered the skies in blackness, feeding on
anything in the air. They were fast, and their wings and
devil's tails helped propel them in the air. They couldn't
touch the ground because they had no way of taking off; so
if they were to come down low, Samantha and the others
should pull them to the ground.
The hawk also told Samantha that the chanting was from
the talking stones, the stones worshiped the guardian of
the rhino plant, and they would sound an alarm once they
spotted an intruder. These stones would be easy to spot by
their red glowing symbols.
"Whatever you do, run when you come in contact with
the stones," said the hawk.
Everyone was a little tense, not knowing what to
expect. The hawk reminded Jane and the others that they
would be waiting right here for their return, if no harm or
danger befell them. They also let Samantha and the others
know that, since the hawks were the only ones that could
get here, they must protect their lives, because Baja would
need someone to retrieve the plant, if something happened
to Samantha and the others. They nodded in agreement, and
off they went into a dark and unknown forest, wondering if
they would ever return to the land they loved.
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