Pyrus (18 page)

Chapter 24: The Castle

Not needing Leo in his transformed state anymore, I decide to let him remain as a physical being. I climb out of the chamber and follow the dimly lit path back outside to see what has changed. I exit the Core to see a new Pyrus. The emerald sky was now concealed by rings of smoke coming from the numerous volcanoes. The ground was now covered in soot and ash, with tiny cracks of lava every few steps or so. All of the forests and the record house have disappeared. I turn around and see that the pathway that I had just walked through was gone. I then remember that there is no need for it to still be here—Pyrus is back to the way it used to be.

“You look surprised,” Leo observes. “Is this not what you had expected?”

“Well I was expecting something a little less … hot,” I reply.

“This
is
the land of fire,” he says with a laugh.

I was expecting the landscape to still be similar to the forests I had become so attached to, but now I couldn't even recognize where we were.

“What is next on our to-do list?” Leo asks. Remembering what Gron had said to me, I rerun the plan through my head to make sure it makes sense before I tell him.

“King Sol is still alive, apparently, so our first goal should be to find him and break him out of the makeshift palace. Then, after that we need to locate the true palace of Pyrus and use that as our rally point to signify that Pyrus is no longer a neutral country. What happens after that, I haven't a clue.” It was a pretty simple plan; there were some minor complications such as breaking Sol out of what was probably a maximum security castle, but we would cross that bridge when we got to it.

We start to walk away when Lyra blocks our path.

“I don't have time for this right now,” I say with an impatient edge.

“If you are going to attempt to rescue the grieving king, then I may as well help you,” she replies with a steely tone. Leo then questions her.

“And why does Cyclos feel that it needs to intervene with matters outside of its border?” She looks at me directly when she speaks, her voice and eyes softer and the words less harsh.

“I am not doing this for my country,” she states. “I am doing this for my friend.” Leo attempts to reply, but I silence him by raising my hand. He growls at me, but says nothing more. He shoves past me and leads the way to the royal palace while Lyra and I follow in silence. I take this opportunity to further observe the new landscape. The number of volcanoes in this area alone was over ten. Some were active, spewing out lava everywhere, while others remained in their silent slumber.

I look towards the smoke-covered sky to try and tell what time it is, but the only reminder that the suns were there was the constant heat bath. It drains the energy out of me, making each step harder and harder. I bump into Leo, who had turned around and was glancing at me strangely.

“I think … we had better find a place to rest for the day,” was all he said. Lyra gives me the same look as Leo did. Normally the heat has never bothered me like this, but I was feeling so sluggish. We manage to find a quarry of rocks that could shield us from the heat, and lie down almost immediately. The ground is hot and uncomfortable, but that doesn't stop me from falling asleep as soon as my head touches the ground.

I awake inside my mental realm. It seems bigger than before. I call out to Leo, and he appears before me in a burst of blinding flame. He appears concerned as he glances around the space, almost like even he wasn't expecting this.

“Would you care to explain what is going on? Because I am so confused right now,” I ask him. He continues staring and mumbling to himself. Annoyed at not getting an answer, I ask again. “Hello? I'm sure you are busy lost in thought, but I would like an explanation right now if you don't mind!” He finally looks at me, but speaks quickly.

“The size of this space indicates the size and strength of your magii chambers.” He explains. “Somehow, your chambers are expanding so rapidly that the space is now almost endless. When the seal was broken in the Core, the magii that fell on you must have become absorbed and is now a part of you. Because you had so much magii pumped into you, your magii chambers had to increase in order to accommodate the sudden increase.” I'm listening to this and thinking this all sounds great! It means I'm getting stronger.

“Once the magii runs out, however, you will be back to your normal power level, so I would suggest using your magii sparingly from now on,” he continues.
Forget that; with this much power, we could storm the castle and abduct, I mean rescue, the king without any trouble!
Leo picks up on this thought and shakes his head like a parent does to an ignorant child. He disappears in another flame, leaving me to my thoughts.

I wake up earlier than everyone, but I still feel tired. My magii chambers probably still hadn't expanded enough to sustain the magii that I had gained, but I wake up Leo and Lyra so we can continue on. We walk for days, eating and resting only when necessary, but I still felt weak and exhausted. We reach the palace by the fifth day, but my eyes are too tired to stay open, let alone notice our destination. I fall asleep a few minutes after and force myself sleep for two days straight, waiting for my magii chambers to finish expanding.

The smell of rumbleberry soup tickles my nose and compels me to find them. I struggle to move my body after not using it for a while and barely succeed. I walk over to the pile of rumbleberries Lyra had gathered and grab a few handfuls, munching away on the sugary goodness that is the rumbleberry. Lyra had fallen asleep on her hands, a few locks of hair fallen over her face. I walk over to her and brush the hair from her face. She doesn't stir, and I don't wake her.

I walk out of the cage of dead trees that had become our camp, wanting to take a glimpse of what we were up against. I also wanted to see how grand the royal palace of Pyrus was; that way, I could compare it to the true palace later on. My eyes are still adjusting to the bright red landscape when the palace comes into view. If I had any berries left, I would have dropped them. This place is massive! The walls are made of what looks like jade and ruby, while the gates are made of I think Diamond. There were four towers on the corners plus two guard turrets that overlooked a moat of lava. Guards patrolled the tops of the walls and all around the perimeter of the castle.
There is no way that we can break him out stealthily.

I stumble back to the camp, completely awestruck. We were dead, and if not dead, then very close to it. Not even magic could stop the hundreds of guards that were in the castle. I sit down on a burnt log and try to think of a way this could work without charging the castle head-on. I must have been there for a while, because Lyra stirs and walks over to me while I am lost in my thoughts.

“What is wrong? You look as if you have seen a ghost.”

“We are going to be ghosts if we attempt to attack that massive fortress,” I reply.
Not necessarily,
Leo counters.
We just need a flawless plan. I have an idea, but I will need you to release me into my physical form.
I do as he asks, and he immediately goes into the breakdown.

“We need to do some scouting, locate the positions of guard shifts and when they occur. Once the opportunity arises, then you and her will take out the guards, replacing them. Once the next shift occurs, you will wander in and locate the king's chambers.” I had to admit it was a good plan. It was something I would have thought of, given more time.

“There's one problem, though,” I comment. “How are we going to escape?”

“That is the simple part,” Leo responds unemotionally. “You are going to use your secret weapon in order to blast your way out.” Lyra had been completely okay with the plan so far, but her brow creased once Leo mentioned our escape plan.

“What is he talking about? What is this secret weapon?” Lyra asks me. I avoid her gaze for a couple of seconds. When she continues staring at me, I just smile and say, “If I told you, then it wouldn't be a secret anymore, would it?” Yes, it was a rather childish way to respond to her, but what else could I have done? She didn't know what had happened to me while inside the Core, and it would take too long to explain the specifics.

And so we began our preparations for the upcoming assault. Leo and Bolt did all of the scouting for possible exit locations while Lyra and I memorized the guard schedule. Every day we went over the plan, just to make sure we didn't forget any critical details. We never did. The morning of the big day, I wake up earlier than everyone to go see the beauty that is the royal palace. It was a pity that I was going to have to blow up a part of it, but that was part of the plan, at least, the part that I discussed with Leo privately. Yesterday's conversation still rang in my head:

“The only exit point from the king's chambers is through the roof. Unless you feel comfortable in dealing with almost a thousand guards with just your magii, I would suggest that we have a backup plan, just in case.”

“What exactly did you have in mind?”

“Have Lyra conjure up a thunderstorm similar to the one that was used in the battle at the crater.” The memory of the battle cloud had remained carved into my mind.

“We could use that as our escape route if she can lead us through the clouds. If not, then we have no choice but to fight our way out.” I didn't like that option, but I knew it was a last resort. A beam of light from Pyro sneaks through the clouds and shines down upon the castle, making it seem almost a crime to invade it. Scratch that, it was a crime to invade it, and I was completely responsible for whatever was going to happen.

“We are going to go into action soon.” Leo walks up beside me as he speaks. “I am sorry it had to turn out like this, Jack, I truly am. But the guards will not let him leave the castle unless he is accompanied by his parade of guards, and even then we do not know how many of them we can trust.” I can tell he's trying to comfort and reassure me, but believe me, it doesn't help. I shrug my shoulders, putting the moral objections away until later.

“Okay, I'm ready now,” I announce. “Let's get back to the camp.” Once we enter the camp, Lyra stands up and gives us a nod. It was time to begin. Before leaving, I grab the last batches of rumbleberries, but the sweet taste was sour in my mouth.

I began jogging to my place in the mountains where I would await the signal from Lyra to make my move. Once I reach the tiny little crevice Leo had found, I sit down. I know I am too far from the castle for them to notice me, but I'm not taking any chances. From my position, I can see everything that happens behind the castle; all I have to do now is wait.

The guards change positions every five minutes, moving in an endless circle until they take a rest shift inside the castle. I watched the guards change shifts twice before I heard the scream. I was on my feet and rushing down the mountain seconds after it happened. Constant speed was mandatory, a delay would be fatal. All of the guards were rushing to the front gate to respond to the scream, so no one would notice if two guards were missing when they didn't return from their shifts. When I made it to bottom I begin to charge towards two guards from behind. Grabbing two by the neck, I knock them unconscious before they realized I was there and struggle to carry their bodies back to the safety of the mountains. Lyra was already waiting for me when I had arrived at my stakeout spot.

“That was a little more difficult than I expected, but I got the soldiers!” I exclaim, my mouth dry from the sprint I had to pull off. I wanted to use magic to help me, but in case we had to fight our way out, I relied on my physical strength alone to drag the bodies back up. Throwing off their armor, I quickly change into a soldier's clothes. They wore a white tunic with chain mail hidden underneath. The helmet is rusted steel, and it reeks of sweat, but it conceals my hair. Picking up the armor, I slide it on. Watching the castle, I wait for Lyra to do the same.

When we had both changed, we began our descent into the valley. The guards on the other side of the moat pointed at us, and more began to rally. I was instantly on alert—had they recognized that we weren't soldiers, or maybe they had seen me carry the real soldiers up the mountain? The possibilities were endless. As we got closer, I could make out the faces of some of the other guards. Some of them had a red cross engraved onto their breastplates. One of the guards walked forward and spoke to us.

“Where were you two lackeys? You know the rules; no one is allowed to leave their post during a state of emergency.” My brain quickly translated Pyrian into English, but I stammered in English as I tried to find the right words.

“We … we saw two people observing the castle, so we went to go investigate. By the time we reached their encampment in the mountains, they had already dispersed.”
Look down!
Leo hisses at me.
You are one of the lower ranked soldiers: do not make eye contact with a superior unless you wish to challenge him.
My eyes instantly shift from his gaze to the floor. I can feel his eyes burning into my scalp.

“Carry on,” he replies, his eyes still looking at me suspiciously. I was about to breathe a sigh of relief when he stops me. “You have the rest shift next. Proceed to the castle and do not dally.” I nod quickly, my eyes still glued to his feet. Keeping my eyes on the floor, I proceed across the wooden bridge, into the castle of the king. I know I shouldn't feel bad about kidnapping the king; it's for the good of the country, after all. But I still feel like a criminal.

I had never been inside of a castle before. There were stained glass windows all along the sides, while a staircase led straight up to the second floor. The smell of chicken came from a room on the left, so I assumed that was the kitchen. Guards patrolled everywhere, even inside. Lyra and I walk down the halls, admiring the suits of armor and the paintings that litter the walls. The sound of weapons clashing makes my hair stand on its edge, but it was only two soldiers having a sparring match.
These guards are well prepared and trained,
I note.
Definitely well prepared.