Book One Chapter Twenty One: Artemis

Kai leads Nick and his friends through Saja and Luna's vortex. They emerge I an alternate world known as Artemis. What are Saja's plans or Artemis? Can our heroes thwart her yet again?

Chapter Twenty One Artemis: We saw a little ray of light from the roof of the room. The explosion had left a craggy slant in the wall, making it easy for us to climb it. We squeezed through and found it was sunrise. Kai had a little trouble because he was the largest one in the group. I pulled him out. He had not said anything in the cave, I forgot he was there. We had spent a whole day in the cave. We looked around and found ourselves on top of a little hill.

“Where do we go now?” asked Serena.

I looked around. It was a very mountainous terrain.

“We should follow the sun, I think that would be our best bet, so we can go in one direction and not get lost." Said Fenton.

"I think that's smart." I remarked.

So with that we headed in the direction of the sun, hoping to stumble across something, a town or village, anything that could lead to Saja’s whereabouts. So in hopes that that would happen we pressed on through the foothills and mountains. After a while Kai clapped Fenton on the shoulder.

“Nice work, Fenton. You’ve got us all lost.” Kai exclaimed with mock happiness.

Fenton shrugged him off.

“Well at least I gave a suggestion. I did not hear you come up with a brilliant plan. Would you rather have climbed those mountains back there?" Asked Fenton.

“Well, so far there is no sign of civilization, and I blame you!” said Kai, avoiding the question.

“In time we will come to a village or a port or somewhere.” Fenton Said, remaining hopeful.

“We must wait until that happens.” He added.

"There's no need for fighting, it will be alright, we will come across a village in a while, I'm sure of it." I told them.

After we climbed a little more over a hill we saw a little village, just like Fenton told us. We clambered down the mountain and walked through the main gate. Engraved in ornate metal lettering in the gate were the letters T-R-I-N. I assumed Trin was the name of the village. The village was pretty small, with a few shops marked by homemade wooden signs with paint. The signs read things like ‘Weapons.’ ‘Best Armor in Artemis.’ ‘Rest Your Head For Two Sienta.’ And things of the like. There were little cobblestone roads that led from building to building. People were all over the place, talking with each other, talking to merchants in shops and on the streets. I saw a few people enter and exit shops. A few of them glanced at us, but didn’t take much interest and went back to what they were doing.

At last, we saw the inn, a small building that was marked by a sign that read ‘INN.’ My friends and I walked through the front door. Inside the inn was nice. It looked to be a house converted into an inn by the owners. There was a kitchen, a living room, a bathroom and other rooms that you would find in a house. There was a staircase at the back of the room.

“Four rooms please.” I said to the innkeeper who was behind the counter. He then looked me in the eye.

“That will be seven Sienta.” The man said in a thick Russian accent.

I thought. We had no Sienta.

“How about a trade?” I asked. He looked at me puzzlingly. I pulled out the Semonite.

“I’ll give you a piece of this for our rooms.” I offered. He examined it.

"How big a piece of strange rock?" He asked in his thick Russian accent. I broke off a piece the size of my fist and held it up. He weighed it in his hands.

"This strange rock, Semonite, I think. It is pricy, no? It is unfair trade to you, I also give backpack.” He said, taking the fistful of Semonite and giving me a small backpack.

"Thank you." I said, taking the backpack from him.

“You are welcome. Your rooms are upstairs. Go up and pick rooms that are not occupied.” The man said.

My friends and I went upstairs and went to our rooms. I went to my room and put the Semonite in my bag. I then put it beside my bed. I went to sleep

 

***

I awoke from my sleep. When I got out of the bed, I was going to walk out in to the hall to get the others, but I forgot my backpack. I then went for my pack but the Semonite was gone! How were we supposed to pay for things now? I went into the hall to find the others just coming out of their rooms.

“Guys, someone stole the Semonite!” I exclaimed.

Everyone came out of their rooms.

“Let us find the thief then!” shouted Kai.

We rushed outside. We searched the many venders outside the inn but didn’t find the thief. We searched alleys, backyards and front yards and even asked around but no thief or crystal to be found. Kai then said

“I think we should search the back alley venders, maybe this village, Trin, has a black market or something like that” Kai suggested.

“Why is that?” asked Fenton, probably trying to bother him.

“You are getting on my last nerve, kid. Now, I think so because someone wouldn’t just carry around a crystal, no matter what its value. So I think that we should check the back alley venders, if anyone tried selling a crystal like that out here, they might get in trouble. You heard the innkeeper, he said it is pricey. If someone sold it at the back alley vendors, then no one would bother them if they tried to sell it, because most of the people there are probably criminals themselves anyway.” Kai explained. I sided with Kai.

“I think Kai is right, we should check the back alley venders.” I said.

Fenton had an irritated look on his face, but didn't object. So we went around to the back alleys. There was not very much light and not very many people. There was a tarp overhead that was moth eaten, letting in patches of light through the occasional hole. There were rats and filth everywhere. There were homeless people sleeping and most likely dying of disease. Flies could be seen fluttering about, landing on scraps of food on the road. You could hear them buzzing as well. It was disgusting.

Seeing this made me notice the filthy stench that hung heavy on the air. I gagged. We looked to all of the vendors.

“Are you sure these are the back alley vendors?” Asked Kai.

“You tell us.” Fenton taunted.

“Back off, kid.” Kai warned.

“Stop that, there’s no need for fighting. We are all on the same team here!” I said, getting between them.

Why were they fighting, anyway? Maybe Fenton didn’t like Kai’s way of doing things, but he didn’t need to fight with Kai because chances are one of these days Kai is going to get mad and do something regrettable. We searched the vendor booths, but none of them had customers.

“I do not think we are in the right place” Serena told us.

“I am sure we are, we must be patient.” The queen offered.

“Yes, just be patient. We will find that thief in time.” Kai said hopefully.

Soon we came across one vender that had a customer. Finally! It was a girl that looked about fifteen or sixteen, not much younger than me. She was wearing a long trench coat that was grey in color. On your back attached to a strap was a longbow and a quiver of arrows. She had carrot red hair that was pulled back into a bun at the back of her head with a dozen or so bobby pins protruding from it. She was around five feet nine inches, just a little shorter than me. She had a slim face with sharp, fine features that looked like they had been shaped by a master artisan. She had green eyes that were like two emeralds in her eye sockets. She was arguing with a vender... And holding our Semonite! She would gesture to the crystal every now and then to emphasize what she was saying. Kai walked up behind her.

“I believe you have something of ours, kid.” Said Kai.

The girl froze and spun around to look at Kai.

“I believe you are mistaken, sir.” The girl said politely while subtly and slowly sticking the Semonite beneath her coat.

The girl’s voice was light and gentle, yet taunting and antagonizing.

“No, I can see that crystal in your hand right there, you know, the one you are trying to hide.” Kai said, pointing to the Semonite.

“I am sorry my good sir, but I believe you are mistaken.” The girl said again.

“No, what are you talking about!? I see the Semonite right there!” Kai shouted, lunging for the Semonite under the girl’s coat.

The girl bolted in the opposite direction as Kai.

“Help me! Help me! This man is trying to hurt me!” The girl shouted as she took off running.

I heard footsteps around us.

“Were you trying to hurt that woman?” Asked a big, muscly man.

The man was bigger than Kai. I saw a few other big and burly men behind the guy. They must have been his buddies.

“What? No! She robbed my friends and I!” Kai shouted in anger.

Before the men could do anything rash, Kai ran after the girl and motioned for us to follow. The rest of us followed him. The burly men did not chase us. We pursued the girl into the main streets and into the light again. I spotted her up ahead. She ran through several alleys and yards and even through the marketplace. Her grey trench coat was billowing out behind her. Man, for a younger girl, she was fast!

We chased her in to an alley. It was a narrow space in between two houses. I could see balconies that led a few stories up the building, but the shortest one was over ten feet off the ground. We had her now! The girl ran to the very back of the alley, but didn’t stop running. What was she doing? She was going to hit that back wall pretty hard if she didn’t stop. She kept running. When she was two feet from the back wall, ten feet away from us, she jumped on to the wall, using her momentum to run up the wall a few feet. She then pushed off the wall, turned in mid and just barely managed to grab the lowest point on the railing of the lowest balcony. Woah! She was quite agile. She pulled herself up on to the balcony and stood on the top of the railing. We heard shouts from inside the house that the balcony led in to. The girl jumped, grabbed the edge of the balcony above the one she was one, pulled herself up and repeated this maneuver. She soon managed to grab on to the roof of the building, pull herself up, and disappear from sight.

“Come on, we will head her off over here!” Kai shouted, running back out into the main road of the village.

We followed Kai and dashed down the road, there were apartment like buildings all around us, and there were vendors everywhere, making it hard to run too fast without crashing into one. As we ran down the main road of Trin, we passed a lot of people, as well as a lot of different buildings, we passed white buildings that were fairly large, I assumed these were hospitals. We passed various inns, shops and churches. I was wrong at first, Trin is bigger than Libel! We ran for a few more minutes and eventually became out of breath. We all stopped running.

“We lost her. Great.” Kai said in dismay.

“How will we pay for our inn rooms now?” Asked Serena.

“I don’t know, we need that crystal to pay for inn rooms and anything else we may need on our journey to defeat Saja.” Fenton declared.

“Do you think that girl has any relation with Saja?” I asked them

“I don’t think so. I think she is just a dirty rat who steals from travelers for a living.” Kai said bitterly.

“How do we find her now? Trin is a large village, it looks small at first, but it is quite large when you traverse it.” The queen said.

“I don’t know how we will find her now, it sounds impossible. Like finding a needle in a haystack.” Serena said forlornly.

“Well, we could start looking again, she couldn’t have gone far at this point. Maybe she hasn’t gotten away yet.” I said hopefully.

“Alright, Nick. Let us give it another go.” Kai said.

“That’s the spirit, Kai!” I said encouragingly.

“I think that all hope may not be lost as of yet.” The queen said.

“Okay, let us look for that girl once more!” Serena said in a motivating tone.

“Alright, let’s do it.” I told them.

“She climbed the roof at a certain angle. If she carried on, she would have gone this way. Maybe she jumped down somewhere.” Kai suggested.

“Okay, let us all follow Kai.” Fenton said cockily.

“Fenton, stop that.” I told him.

Why was he being so cocky and rude towards Kai? I was sure that Fenton didn’t like being told what to do. Thankfully, Kai paid him no mind.

Kai started running down the main road, and we followed him once again. We ran through vendors, crowds and jumped over barrels that had fallen on the road here and there. At last, we saw a figure running across the rooftops in the distance!

“There she is!” Serena declared.

“We need to catch her!” Kai said.

With that, he led us towards the series of houses that the girl was on top of. She was running and jumping across the rooftops of the houses, sometimes clearing gaps as large as six feet! We came to an alley between two houses, and we arrived just in time to see the girl jump over top of us.

“We must go a few alleys ahead, then someone can boost Fenton up, seeing as he is the smallest, and he can grab the girl’s legs and pull her down.” Suggested Kai.

Fenton didn’t object.

We ran a few alleys ahead as Kai had suggested. The two houses on either side of us were pretty low to the ground, only around seven feet. Kai lifted Fenton upwards, and when the girl ran and jumped over the gap separating the two houses, Fenton grabbed the girl’s leg and pulled her down in to the alley.

At last we caught up to this girl! The girl sat on the ground, the force of her downward momentum had knocked her down. She was out of breath and panting. She looked at us all, astounded.

“How did you catch up with me?” She asked in amazement.

“Give us the crystal.” Kai ordered, ignoring her question.

“Why would I ever do that?” Asked the girl teasingly.

Kai growled in anger.

“Give it back! Now!” He yelled.

“No.” The girl said flatly.

Kai lunged for it quickly, but the girl danced out of the way.

“Be careful, you may scare me and I will run off again.” The girl said warningly, but in a joking tone.

“Okay…” Kai said, gently trailing off.

“Please give us back our crystal.” Kai asked politely.

She handed it over to Kai.

“That was not so hard, now was it?” Asked the girl.

I had to admit, this girl was funny, but what was her deal? She stole our Semonite, then gave it back when asked nicely. What was she playing at? She must not have wanted Kai to hurt her.

“How did a brat like you get you’re greedy little hands on our crystal?” Kai asked.

“I have to eat, do I not? I was going to sell it.” Explained the girl.

“Do not avoid the question.” Said Kai.

The girl bowed her head.

“Okay, fine. Ever since you walked into this town I have been watching you and your crystal. I thought that if I stole it I could pay for food and goods.” The girl explained

Kai shook his head.

“But you did not answer the question. How did you steal it?” Asked Kai.

The girl started to explain.

“Well. I saw your friend here carrying it and I secretly followed you until the hallway of the inn. When I had the location of his room, I leaped across the nearby rooftops and in through the window. In seconds I had the crystal and ran into the night. I slept until morning, I tried to sell it to that vendor, and he tried to rip me off. Then you caught me, I ran away, you caught me again, and here we are.” The girl explained.

I looked at her in awe. We could use someone like her in our group. Although Kai might not like that…

“You are an agile little thing, aren’t you?” I asked.

The girl nodded.

“If you lived my life, which I can see that you clearly do not, you would understand that it is survival of the fittest.” She replied.

“Alright, we have what we need. Now beat it, squirt.” Ordered Kai sternly.

The girl most certainly did not 'beat it.'

“Actually, I think I might join you. You guys are probably more exciting than anything that happens around here. I can tell that you guys have seen some action!” The girl exclaimed.

Kai shook his head fiercly.

“Ah, no. Absolutely not! First you steal our Semonite and then you try to sell it, now you want to join us? Who are you anyway?” asked Kai.

The girl puffed out her chest, trying to act dignified.

“I am Anna-Maria.” She said.

Kai glared at her.

“Well, Anna-Maria, we are looking for someone. Think you could help us out?” Asked Kai. 

Anna-Maria shrugged. “Depends, what does this person look like?” She asked. 

I decided to answer her question.

“Her name is Saja. She is about fifteen, well she looks fifteen. She is a vampire after all. She is blonde, she is shorter than me, and she has red eyes, pale skin, and a thin build.” I told her.

“Great. I hate vampires! They are rather plentiful as of yet here on Ectoclis. They go around in gangs and cause trouble. They also prey on the blood of villagers. A lot of people here in Trin have gone missing in the last few decades, they turn up dead a few days later with fang marks on their necks.” Anna-Maria explained.

“What is Artemis?” I asked.

“It is the name of this world, of course! What, were you raised in a barn?” Anna-Maria shouted.

That would explain the inn’s sign back in Trin: Best Armor in Artemis. It was the name of this world! That was interesting.

“Well, no. I was raised on Earth.” I told her.

“Wait a minute! You mean, you were raised in a different world? So the stories are true!” Anna-Maria yelled.

“Yes, it is a very different world than Artemis.” I told her.

“Wow! Unbelievable! Well then again, I have seen some pretty crazy things. Artemis is a strange world, and you get used to hearing and seeing strange things. I have always believed in the ‘multiple worlds’ concept, so this is nothing new to me, I knew that the multiple worlds theory was true!” Anna-Maria blurted.

Good, so she wasn’t overwhelmed by the fact that I am from an alternate world. She had not asked me about my home world though. Did she hear stories about Earth?

“Vampires exist here on Artemis?” I asked, snapping myself out of my state of wonder.

“Yes, they do.” Anna-Maria said slowly.

“Okay. Anyway. Have you seen Saja?” I asked.

“Does she have a friend?” asked Anna-Maria.

“Yes, her name is Luna, she has white hair, blue eyes, she is shorter than Saja, she has a very frail build.” explained Kai.

“Luna… yes, I’ve seen them around here. They passed through two days ago." Said Anna-Maria.

“Then there is still time.” I said.

“Still time for what?” Anna-Maria asked.

“Never mind. You do not want to get involved with the things we get involved in.” Said Kai.

“We should probably head out and look for Saja and Luna then.” I suggested.

“Well. In case Saja comes back here to Trin at any point in time, do you not think some of us should wait here?” Asked the queen.

I nodded.

“Well, yes. That is a good idea. Do you have any idea who that should be?” I asked.

“I will stay behind. After all, my husband is dead and my daughter is a traitor, I have no desire to see her again." She queen said coldly.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Yes, I am positive.” The queen said with finality.

“Thank you for doing this, and thank you for all of your help. I will miss you.” I told the queen.

“It is my honor to serve alongside the Chosen One in his quest to hunt Saja, I just want to play my part.” The queen said.

“Alright then.” Said Serena.

“Until we meet again. I have a feeling that we will indeed see one another’s faces once more someday.” The queen said with a forlorn tone.

“I certainly hope so. My condolences to your husband, he was a noble man. I am proud to have had him in our group.” I said to the queen.

The queen nodded, wiping a tear from her eye.

“Thank you. I will never forget you, Chosen One.” The queen said.

“I should hope not.” I told her with a grin.

With that, I walked away, the others followed me, including Anna-Maria, who walked silently beside me.

We walked out of Trin. I looked around. The sun was close to setting, tainting the sky orange in the far distance. We were walking on a small dirt trail that led through a forest up ahead. There were mountains, plains, forests and other land features as far as the eye could see! A pleasant change from Ectoclis, seeing as it had almost no land features. It was almost completely flat on Ectoclis. We approached the forest, it was fairly dark beneath the forest’s dense canopy. We walked along in silence for a while. After another minute, Kai looked to me to say something, but his eye fell on Anna-Maria, who was walking beside me.

“What? No! Go back to Trin. Now.” Kai ordered.

“You cannot tell me what to do.” Anna-Maria said teasingly, scratching the bun that her carrot red hair was pulled back in.

I think she liked antagonizing Kai…

“You know what? Fine. I will warn you though, danger is an occupational hazard with us. Can you accept that?” Asked Kai.

“Oh please, I can handle anything.” Anna-Maria said with one hundred percent confidence.

“Alright, fine. You can journey with us… If you can handle it, that is.” Kai teased.

“I can handle it!” Anna-Maria protested.

I heard Kai chuckle. I think these two are going to get on each other’s nerves quite a lot. At least it promised to be a little more entertaining than when Fenton got on Kai’s nerves.

“So what is the story here?” Asked Ana-Maria.

I looked at her.

“What do you mean? I asked.

“You know, you and Luna and Saja. Are they your ex-girlfriends or something?" Anna-Maria asked.

Hearing her theory made me laugh.

"Hardly." I said, still laughing.

I then gave a brief recap from the beginning. From when Saja first captured me up to now.

“Wow. All of that happened?” Anna-Maria asked when I was done.

“Every bit of it.” I confirmed.

After a moment of silence, Ana-Maria spoke up.

“I would like to get a few hits in on this Saja character sometime. She sounds like a total monster.” She said.

“You fight?” I asked, surprised.

“Yes, I am a sure-shot with a bow.” Anna-Maria boasted.

Serena scoffed.

“I doubt that.” Serena said with obvious arrogance.

“Are you guys thinking what I’m thinking?” I asked.

“Archery contest? Sure.” Said Anna-Maria. She held up a bow.

Was that the same bow that I had seen on her earlier? It didn’t look like it…

“Hey!” yelled Serena. And snatched her bow back.

“I am also an experienced thief. This is another skill that I picked up while living the survival of the fittest life.” Added Anna-Maria with a smile.

“Sadly, I cannot compete in an archery contest. The truth is, I dropped my bow when you guys were chasing me. It is on a rooftop somewhere in Trin right now.” Anna-Maria said. She glared at Kai as she said this.

Something caught Fenton’s eye. He turned his attention from Anna-Maria to the trail in front of us.

“I think your archery can wait.” Fenton said with a worried tone. He was pointing to two cloaked figures up the road. They wore long, dark cloaks and hoods that obscured their faces.

“Do you think they are friendly?” Asked Fenton.

“They could be, but I don’t want to take my chances.” Kai replied.

“Could they be vampires?” Anna-Maria asked.

“Maybe, the forest canopy blocks out a good amount of light, plus, they are wearing cloaks. That could be enough for them to walk in the sunlight.” I said.

“Everyone hide, quickly!” Anna-Maria advised.

I hid behind a nearby tree that was to the right of the trail. Everyone else found some form of cover like a rock, boulders, other trees and fallen logs. The light cast by the setting sun gleamed off of one of the figure’s eyes, revealing their true color: Crimson. The twilight gleamed off of them, making them the color of ruby, the light also gave the lead figure’s eyes a luster. As soon as the figure’s eyes came in to contact with the setting sun’s rays, the figure made a girlish squeak of pain and hid her face beneath her hood even farther. I saw long brown hair flowing out from under her dark hood. The hood hid the figure’s face, but judging from the long hair and the girlish squeal of pain, it was a female as far as I could tell. And I saw that they were vampires. Well, wherever Saja goes, vampires are sure to follow. The one leading was a little shorter than the others. A pebble gave under my weight, causing me to move a few inches to the right. The slight movement caught the leader’s eye and she whirled around. Recognition flashed in her eyes.

“Aren’t you that wanted fellow over in Hemlon?” Came a girl’s voice. She sounded around my age, maybe a little older. She had a voice that sounded like Saja’s. Light and arrogant.

The sun was starting to vanish beneath the horizon by now, allowing her to look directly at me.  The forest canopy and the surrounding trees blocked out the remainder of the sun’s rays. The girl pulled her hood back, revealing a female vampire with brown hair, crimson eyes, pale skin, and a strong looking build. She was a little taller than me, which put her at over six feet.

“Oh, it’s him alright.” Said the other figure, who was a male. He had a deep voice.

He pulled his hood back revealing a male vampire with burgundy hair, crimson eyes, pale skin, a muscular build, and he was shorter than the girl he was with, which put him at around five teen ten inches.

“How much blood do you think those two noblewomen would give us for that reward money?” Asked the male, his crimson eyes flashed upon mentioning the word ‘blood.’

Two noblewomen looking for my capture? This had Saja and Luna written all over it.

“What do you want from me?” I asked, fearing that I already knew.

“We want to take you to the two noble women in Hemlon. We can take you alive, but if you give us no other choice, we have no problems taking you dead.” The female said fiercely.

“Sorry, but you cannot take him.” Serena said tauntingly.

Serena then popped up from behind a fallen log that she had been using for cover. She fit an arrow on to her bow string, pulled it back, took aim, and shot the male in the side. The arrow went through his ribcage at the side and had probably impaled his heart.

“Nice shot, Serena!” I yelled in triumph, a certain thrill rushed through my system. The girl was going to be angry for killing that vampire. I was sure of it. Vampires on Ectoclis always stuck together, after all. Would vampires here on Artemis be any different?

"You killed Brutus!" Yelled the female, rage and sorrow was all over her features.

I was right. She was angry. I pulled my sword from my belt and lunged at her, but she disappeared from my vision. Where did she go? Confusion filled me. I could see the others looking around, a dumbfounded look was on all of their faces. There was a faint glow coming from the tree next to me. I almost didn't notice it in the twilight. I looked up towards the glow, and saw the girl standing on a high up branch.

Serena then took aim and let an arrow fly. Less than a spilt second after she did so, the girl in the tree's hand acquired a red glow. I hardly noticed it at first, until the arrow that Serena fired almost hit the girl, the girl then shot a fireball from her hands and destroyed the projectile that was coming at her. The arrow exploded in an array of flame, smoke and ash. The ashes from the arrow scattered in the faint breeze.

"Woah!" Yelled Serena.

Fear and confusion filled me. What was this? What did she just do?

More fireballs rained down on us, we all took cover. I hid behind a nearby boulder. Anna-Maria took cover with me.

"What is she doing?" I asked Anna-Maria, panicking out of my mind.

"She is using magic." Anna-Maria stated.

"Is magic common in Artemis?" I asked.

"Pretty common, I don't know any magic users myself though." She told me.

I peeked out, and saw a fireball coming my way. I ducked back into my cover, which was behind a rock, and the ground near wear my head had been erupted into flames.

"I will avenge Brutus!" The girl in the tree yelled at us.

I saw Serena behind a tree beside me, a few feet away. She peeked out and shot an arrow at her. I heard a fireball being shot out of the vampire's hands. Whoosh. It went. There was a crackling sound made by the fireball as it destroyed the arrow. Another fireball came and lit Serena's tree ablaze. Serena dove in to cover with Anna-Maria and I. I peeked up at the girl over the rock. She was occupied shooting fireballs at Kai and Fenton. Serena saw this, and let her arrow fly. The arrow hit the girl’s right hand, pinning it to the tree. Gross. Serena shot another arrow a second later, and hit her in the side. The girl was probably already dead with the first shot, but Serena took the second shot anyway.

Author's Note

Please tell me what you think :)