Red Leaves and the Living Token

by Benjamin David Burrell

Handers screamed. “Where is he!”

  Moslin traced the wheel chair tracks to the outer wall of the tent. “Look!” She shouted.

  He ran up behind her. “Looks like he snuck out under the wall.”

  “By himself?” Handers asked doubtingly.

  “Oh you have no idea how obstinate your son can be.”

  He glared at her. “He's thirteen. You can't blame all this on him.”

  “I know. I know. She looked embarrassed. “It's just.”

  "Just what?" He fumed.

  She took a deep breath, giving herself a moment before she spoke. "Raj, I am so sorry. I never should have put you through this. It wasn't my choice to make."

  Handers glared at her. "You know, I trusted you!"

  She started to sob. "I don't know what came over me. I can only imagine what you've been going through. At the time I thought... I'm so sorry. It was so wrong." She paused.

  “But listen. Something else has happened. Something you need to know about. When we find him, please, just give him a chance to explain.”

  “Explain what?”

  “About the Token.” She said.

  He stared at her, not sure what to say. The reality of the Token wasn't something he could ignore or forget. As much as he'd like to go back home and pretend nothing had happened. Things had. But how was his son involved in any of this? He didn’t understand that. And frankly he didn't want his son involved. The Token had brought him nothing but trouble.

  None of this would've happened if he had thrown it back into the sea. Nobody would be looking for him. No one would care.

  "If you want to make up for what you've done. Help me get my son back home!" He said.

  She stared at him for a moment, as though she didn't want wanting to agree. Then she gave in, nodded her head. "OK." She lifted up the tent wall. The tracks continued on the other side. "Lets follow the tracks."

  -

  Sinesh, Emret, and Rinacht approached the outer edge of the camp. They found a considerable amount of outer defenses; tangles of barbed wire stretched across barricades, and a few half dug trenches with a handful of soldiers.

  The forest was with in sight. Rinacht reached into this pack and pulled out a bundle of cloth. "Here, you'll need this."

  He handed it to Emret who took it with enthusiasm and began unwrapping it on his lap. As he did, shards of light shone out across the early morning clearing.

  A few of the soldiers dug into the trenches noticed the light. "Hey, you. STOP!"

  Rinacht pushed the chair through the tangle of barricades, weaving back and forth carefully, to avoid snagging Emret. As they approached the line of trees, the forest began to react. The boughs of the nearest trees started to bend with loud cracks and groans. Branches swayed with rustling leaves.

  After a moment, the entire mass of trees in front of them was leaning in one direction as if blown by a heavy wind. The grass and underbrush had parted to form a clear path that pointed them in a clear direction towards the last peak of the mountain ahead of them.

  Just as Emret's wheel passed the threshold of the trees, he heard a strange voice calling. "Emret!" It sounded like his father but distorted, monstrous.

  He wheeled around.

  "Emret what are you doing? We have to get into the forest now!" Rinacht yelled.

  Emret scanned the dark clearing for the source of the call. He couldn't see. "I thought I heard something."

  "Emret!" The call came again. Handers and Moslin ran past the last line of barrack tents exposing themselves to Emret.

  "DAD!" He called back.

  “Mom!” Sinesh yelled.

  Emret looked back at Rinacht, expecting to share the joy of the moment with him. Instead, he was confronted with a face of shear and utter terror. What was going on? He thought. Why was Rinacht mortified? His fear was infection, crushing Emret’s urge to celebrate.

  Something else emerged from behind the last line of tents. Like a flash flood, countless towering stone men flowed in from the space between the rows of tents. They came in like an unstoppable wave behind Hander.

  Emret turned, more soldiers had come in from the sides and were already close to him. Before he could move they crashed down on him choking everything else off. He could see nothing but the gray bodies of rock.

  WHY! He thought. Was he asking for too much? To live? Why was it so difficult? Tears swelled up inside. This was too hard.

  -

  Handers watched in horror as his son disappeared behind a sea of moving stone. He thought he'd made himself abundantly clear. If they stayed back, there would be no trouble. What were they doing now?

  Apparently they'd had time now to gather their entire army. This wasn't a few collected soldiers standing in front of him. This was it. They were going to try to stop him with everything they had.

  It made him nervous. Not for his own safety but for the safety of his son. He had no doubt why they made an effort getting to him first. He was the hostage.

  Sure enough, the Petra in charge, that had been yelling at him earlier to stop, walked out in front of the group that was holding Emrett.

  What did they want him to do? Leave his son, walk away? Lay down and let them take him prisoner. Lock him up with his son? It would just prolong the fight. It didn't make sense. Why wouldn't they just let him go? What could they possible want with him that was that important?

  "You are Trespassing on Petra Land in a Petra military installation. This is your last warning. Surrender or we will use deadly force." The Petra in charge shouted.

  "What do you want with my son? Release him and we'll go in peace." Handers yelled.

  "I'm afraid we can't do that." The Petra answered.

  "Then we have a problem." Handers said.

  "Commander, stand down!" A gruff voice shouted from somewhere behind the soldiers.

  "General?" The Petra Commander scanned the crowd looking for the source of the voice.

  Handers spun around. An older Petra man, surrounded by an entourage of new soldiers, marched up behind Handers.

  He stopped a fair distance away from him. "Your son is not our principal interest. We could easily be persuaded to let him go. If..."

  "If what?" Handers asked.

  "If you're interests are isolated to your son. If you're willing to leave with just him."

  "You mean without Moslin?"

  The General laughed. "No."

  Handers stared at him. Then he remembered what Moslin had said. About being open to what Emret would explain regarding the Token. Was that what all this was about? Was that what the General wanted?

  "The Token?" He asked.

  "Yes, the Token."

  "Fine. I'm not here for the Token, I'm here for the boy. Let us go home, and you'll never hear from us again."

  The General smiled. "You are a wise father. Consider it done."

  The Commander stepped forward, his arm raised in objection, "But General. You have no idea..."

  The General cut his commander off with the wave of his hand. "Bring this woman her daughter and arrange transportation for both these families. "

  The Commander fumed but held his tongue as the General passed him by. "Show me the boy!"

  The crowd of giant stone soldiers parted to expose the small thirteen year old boy cowering near the ground.

  The General stoop down next to him, putting his face as close to the boy's as possible. Handers came up behind keeping a safe distance.

  "What's your name, son?" The General asked him.

  "Emret."

  "Nice to meet you Emret. I've just had a nice conversation with your father and I've agreed to help you both get home as quickly as possible. How does that sound?"

  Emret looked around, then made eye contact with Rinacht who was hiding amongst the soldiers. He turned back to the General. "I don't understand."

  "What don't you understand?"

  "I thought he was going to help me."

  "We're both going to help you. But we need one thing
from you. Could you give me the white stone piece that you found in the forest?"

  "No." He shook his head.

  "Its extraordinarily valuable. It wouldn't be safe for a young child to take care of."

  "I can't give it to you."

  The General stood up and turned to Handers. "Perhaps you could have a word with him?"

  Handers nodded.

  The General signaled to his men to allow him to approach.

  Handers smiled broadly. He hurried up to his boy and got down on one knee beside him. "Emret!" He took him in a tight embrace. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you! I was so worried. I thought I'd never..."

  "I know, I'm sorry dad." He was tearing up.

  "Now what's this all about? What do you have that they want?"

  "Rinacht told me that you knew about it already, that you wanted to help me, that you were going to take me where I needed to go."

  "What? Where's Rinacht?"

  Emret pointed into the crowd. Handers followed his fingers but couldn't see him.

  "No. I'm sorry. I don't know what he's talking about." Handers said.

  Emret looked away and wiped his eyes.

  "Emret talk to me. What's going on?" He watched his son's face. He knew there was a lot his son had not been telling him for quite a while. He was starting to realize how much of this escapade actually had been Emret's idea rather than Moslin’s. He really could be a stubborn boy.

  "You've got to trust me, Emret. Tell me!"

  "Promise me you'll listen no matter how strange it sounds."

  "I promise."

  "I saw the tree in the middle of the old city. It showed me where the Token was. That's why I came up here. I found it just like it showed me. And when I hold it in my hand it shows me something else."

  "What does it show you?"

  He leaned in and whispered in his father's ear. "It shows me where I need to go to get healed. It shows me where the Red Tree is now."

  Handers leaned back and stared at his son. This was the most difficult decision he'd ever made. He believed his son. He believed that he saw the things he did. He was describing something similar to what he had seen.

  That wasn't the problem.

  "Do you believe me?" Emret asked.

  Handers nodded his head. "I do. You're not crazy."

  Emret lit up. His lips curled up into a big smile. "Then you'll take me?"

  Handers stared at him. He didn't know how to answer him. It wasn't that simple. Here, he had an easy ticket home. He had his son intact. He had a chance with the doctors back home. Some how they might be able to figure something out. Emret still had time.

  But if he tried to do what his son was asking, he risked everything. He could die. His son could die. He would have to stand up against the entire Petra army again. Even after that, he was sure there would be more conflict. He was tired, the last thing he wanted was more fighting. He didn't want the pain and anguish of his son's life being at risk.

  He took his son firmly by the shoulders, looked him in the eyes and said, "Emret, we will find another way. We have to go home. But we will find something for you. There is still time."

  Tears welled up in Emret's eyes. "No." He shook his head.

  "We don't have a choice, son."

  "Emret, your father really doesn't have a choice." The General said. “He’s doing the right thing for you.”

  "Yes he does! He can fight! He can fight for me!"

  It was at that moment that Handers finally saw Rinacht in the crowd. He was nodding his head to Emret.

  Handers turned back to his son to find that he had dropped out of his chair and crawled under the giant legs of the closest Petra soldier. In an instant he was gone. Handers cut back to Rinacht. He was gone too.

  He turned back to the General with his hands out to his sides, shaking his head and his mouth open in shock.

  "Find that boy!" The General shouted.

  The soldiers burst to life, lifting their feet and stepping carefully.

  Handers pushed into the dispersing crowd, crouching to look as low as he could. "Emret!" He traced the marks in the dirt where he saw his son disappeared. They didn't go very far before they were lost in the Petra footsteps.

  The crowd of soldiers had spread out enough to see between and underneath them. His son was gone. Handers spun around. Where could he have hidden so fast? And Rinacht? What was he doing here? Why was he a part of this?

  The marks in the dirt led towards the forest. The edge of the trees was only a dozen yards away. But for a sick little boy on his knees even that was too far to go in such a short time.

  Then he remembered the nod Rinacht gave Emret just before he dived under the soldiers. Emret could've made it to the forest with help. If someone carried him.

  He ran to the forest’s edge and burst through the underbrush. After a few steps the underbrush opened up onto the flat surface of a road. He glanced quickly in both directions. Nothing. And the road was completely covered in fresh wet Petra tracks, making it impossible to see anything new.

  Handers dropped to the ground. What had he done? He'd held his son in his arms. He was safe. He could've taken him home. What had he said? What did he do wrong? What could've prompted him to run off like that? He didn't know what else to do. He didn't want to go on wondering what horrible thing might happen to him next. Waiting for that terrible news. He wanted it to end. He wanted him safe at home. It didn't matter that he was sick. His sickness he could handle. He still had time. But this. This could be the end, now. If this continued there could be no more time.

  Should he have grabbed him? Forced him to give back the token? Then tied him up and carried him home? He was his father. It was his job to protect him, even from himself. Was he not strong enough? Not strict enough?

  He heard a noise in the bushes behind him. Moslin and Sinesh stepped through out onto the road. Moslin knelt down beside him. She put an arm on his shoulder. "Come on." She helped him to his feet. "We have to get out of here before the General remembers us."

  She took his hand and dragged him off the road and into the forest.

  -

  Rinacht tromped through the heavy forest with Emret balanced awkwardly in his arms. He glanced over his shoulder instinctively. No one was following. "We've got to hurry," he told Emret. "We have about fifteen minutes before their trackers catch up to us."

  Emret stared back at him, frustrated and confused. "Fifteen minutes? Then what?"

  He laughed. "Don't worry. We have help."

  "Help?" Emret asked.

  "Look Emret. Uh, I haven't been entirely honest with you. Your father and I had a disagreement a little ways back. I agreed to come with him to help him find you. You know. I thought you were danger. I thought Moslin took you.

  "But then I found out about the Token. I found out what you were trying to do. I tried to convince your father to help you but... He wouldn't listen. He just wanted to take you home.

  "I didn't want to have to explain all this while we were trying to get out of the camp, so I lied."

  Emret nodded his head as he listened. He didn't know what to think. He knew his father could be stubborn. That's why he begged Moslin to take him. He really shouldn't have expected anything different. It was just... Rinacht had gotten his hopes up. That his father was on his side. He didn't want to do this without him anymore .

  Rinacht surprised him. To stand up to dad on his behalf? He'd never seen Rinacht defy him like that. Sure they argued. But Rinacht always gave in if Dad insisted. Dad was the boss. "But doesn't this mean... Won't he fire you now?"

  Rinacht laughed again. "I'm sure he'll do more than that if he catches me."

  That was alarming. If Rinacht wasn't planning on being caught by his dad, what was he planning on doing after they made it to the Red? Did that mean he wasn't going to help him get home? And honestly he hadn't really thought much about what he was going to do after he found it.

  “Listen, we're going to meet up with some people w
ho've agreed to help us. Even if your father had agreed to come, we wouldn't have been able to do it without additional help.” Rinacht said.

  "OK?" Emret made an uncomfortable face. Who could Rinacht possibly know out in the forest? Did he have friends out there waiting for him. Watching everything this entire time? And how did he get into the camp in the first place?

  "I know this is a lot to take in. You'll just have to trust me." Rinacht said.

  Emret was starting to wonder if he'd made the right choice. He trusted Rinacht. But that was because he had worked for Dad for so many years. Rinacht and his father. That was what he knew. But Rinacht and strangers? He'd never known any of Rinacht friends. He'd never even seen him talk to anyone other than the family.

  "Who are they?" Emret asked.

  "They're old friends. I told them what happened with your father. How sick you were. And how much you needed to find what we're looking for." Rinacht said.

  "And they know what we're looking for?" Emret asked. This concerned him. Seemed a lot of people were looking for the Token all of a sudden, and none of them seemed to interested in sharing it.

  "They do. But I'll let them explain themselves."

  Emret found himself not wanting to continue with Rinacht. But what choice did he have? He had no better alternative.

  A military looking Botann stood in the empty space between The Holy Master Cleric and a crowd of men at the back of the room.

  "All captains of the general guard reporting.” The Botan said.

  Another man stepped forward next to the first. "As is the High Commander of your special guard."

  "Thank you for coming so quickly. The matter is urgent, as I'm sure you've been informed. But there is much you do not know. That's why I've called you all here. I want you to hear this first hand... from me.” He paused.

  "Captains please come forward, so we may speak more intimately." He said.

  The crowd responded immediately, falling in behind the first two men who stood half way into the room.

  "The Holy Token was sighted by a patrol in the mountain outside the city. We sent a company of the special guard to retrieve it.

  "They've reported that an entire division of the Petra army has moved into the area of the sighting. The patrol is missing as well as the persons of interest and most importantly the Holy Token.