Chapter 69 Noah
“Hold on!” The old centaur chauffeur almost drives off the road. People on the street are scattering out of the way to dodge the big watermelon-shaped carriage suddenly careening by. Tara Greenrose, Knight the cat, and I are all bumped against the roof and pressed up on the right-side window as the carriage drifts. “Sorry! I made the left turn too late!” The chauffeur shouts out. Then, with an abrupt stop, we all fly forwards. My head plummets right into Knight’s soft belly. “We’ve arrived at our destination. The Spirit of the Woods!” the old centaur exclaims, with a complacent pride.
We get ourselves together and climb out of the carriage. After expressing our thanks to the old centaur, we walk straight into the Spirit of the Woods. The chauffeur is now greeting his next passenger, an old elf, old and feeble, supporting himself with a walking stick, wobbling and trembling. “His business is on fire!” I say to Knight. “Um…” he contemplates and looks at the old elf with a worried face, “Good luck with your journey, sir.”
The Spirit of the Woods is a place of wonder. A gigantic tree trunk solidly stands on the ground. The center of the banyan tree is glowing brightly, as energy moves up and down the trunk and emanates out in thousands of thin threads towards the city. “The spirit is comparably weaker now. When she awakens at her full power, the whole banyan city will shine like a star.” Tara looks at the glowing pillar with a melancholy expression.
Knight admits, “It’s fortunate that we had her transferred here, outside the evil reign of the humans, before the war. But the Sacred Spirit of the tree, her partner, was not so lucky. He’s was stolen by a group of terrible people, the Burtons and the Grays.” Knight’s fierce claws are scratching into the ground. “I was trying to steal the Greed Gem from that Nicolas Burton and was discovered by him! He strangled me and I almost died! ”
“Oh my, good heavens!” Tara exclaims, “It’s lucky you escaped from him!”
“Yes! Can you believe it? The gem was right on his finger and I couldn’t get it! My magic is useless when he’s the one wearing the gem!”
“What gem? We had a gem too!” I want to be involved in this important conversation.
“The Seven Sinful Gems. They are essential for the Moon Awakening.” Tara calmly explains, “There are seven menacing spirits dwelling in each one: Greed, Lust, Envy, Pride, Gluttony, Wrath and Sloth. The spirits are ancient and powerful. If the gems’ masters don’t have strong hearts, they will easily be dominated by the spirits. But if the masters are more powerful and stronger in their own faith, the spirits can move to the opposite side. Those are Chastity, Temperance, Charity, Diligence, Kindness, Patience and Humility.”
“Why are they essential to the Moon Awakening?”
“The seven stones used to be one, an almighty crystal that stored the purest power of the Moon. The Dark Lord was after it. It was the reason he initiated the Great War. If he got his hands on it, he would become lord of the earth and command all other creatures. Your father, King Atwater, sacrificed his sacred wolf soul to protect the crystal. The second the Dark Lord touched it, the stone automatically broke into seven separate gems, and the almighty purity was split into seven spirits. Along with your father’s soul, the energy was too powerful, and it shattered the Dark Lord. He has remained unseen over the years. The seven gems were scattered to unknown places as well.” Tara and Knight both make a bowing gesture to honor the past King. “And if someone had the power to unite the seven gems again, the Moon will come back and the power of the almighty purity will be at their disposal, without limitations.”
I‘m fascinated by this history. “My mom never even mentioned this to me!”
“Don’t blame her. She doesn’t know about everything that happened. She’s in pain. But as the rightful queen, she’s certainly shown a great measure of sloth over the years.” Knight says straightforwardly.
I look down to the ground and my heart sinks as I’m reminded of the scene the serpent showed me. “I saw something in my dream. And it made me feel angry at my mom.”
“What did you see?”
“A serpent with purple hair showed me a scene of a battlefield, blood and an old strange castle above a black sea.”
Knight and Tara both stop walking and look at me seriously. “You have seen the Serpent of Prophecy?” they say in unison.
“It never told me its name. But the most important thing is,” I look up at them, “I saw my mom, having a baby with another man, and that man was not my father!”
Tara and Knight both exchange a look, as if they already know what I’m talking about. “What else did you see?”
I’m a bit offended, as they chose to ignore my biggest concern, but I don’t say anything. “Um… Nothing much else. It seemed to have all happened in the past.”
“You said you saw a strange castle above a black sea. Can you please elaborate?” Knight pushes.
“Oh, the castle. It was all black, shining in the darkness, above a roaring sea. And I saw lots of blood, streaming out from and into it.”
Then, they turn to each other. “We have to do it, quickly.”
“What’s wrong with the castle?” It looks like I’m the only one who’s confused here.
“The castle is where the Dark Lord dwells. And the Sacred Spirit of the tree, we firmly believe, is there as well. They are making a plan. A horrendous one. We have to stop it.” Knight explains.
“But we have to do it steadily. One step at a time. Don’t worry too much, my prince. Let’s go to the post office first.”
I’m completely filled with worries now! But there’s nothing I can do…
People are coming in and out of an entrance shaped like a giant mushroom. It is nothing other than the post office, located right beneath the tree trunk. There is a short line of customers waiting in front of a huge chimney carved out from the trunk and linking with a thick thread of the glowing energy.
“You can trust our delivery system. It’s worked just fine all these years. We depend on it to make contact with our friends on the outside.” Tara leads us to the reception center where a well-mannered elf is ready to receive us. She gives me an envelop and a pen. “Please fill in the content, the recipient’s name, and the address. Seal it with this wax. Then put it right under the chimney. The letter will find the recipient and reveal itself in the most discreet way possible.”
That’s a fun way to send a letter! I hope my family will receive it in no time. I take the pen and scribble,
“Dear Mom, Bella, and Ms. Bennett,
I believe my disappearance made you all very worried. Please don’t be, as I am fine and safe, at least so far! I wish I could call you, but apparently, that is a human invention that we can no longer trust. I hope Isabella is feeling better. I’m terribly sorry that I can’t do much for her right now.
Also, I cannot tell you exactly where I am or who I’m with, as it would put them in great danger. I agree that exposing our location would be stupid and unnecessary. Anyway, I’m on an adventure! I know, it doesn’t sound like something I would do, right? And it will probably be dangerous too! I haven’t really make a clear decision yet… but it seems I’ll have to do it, as it might be essential for the Moon. I’m scared but excited. But please don’t worry about me. I will take good care of myself. I promise.
Love,
Noah.”
This is one terribly vague letter. I write our address in Moonlit on the envelop and put it in the chimney. A thread of white glowing light stamps the letter at the top right corner. It flies away almost instantly.