Chapter Six: ( Kids will be Kids)

Chapter: 6(Kids will be Kids)

I guess I had fallen asleep shortly there after because the next thing I knew Jackson was elbowing me awake. I forced myself to open my eyes and look around. My blurry sleep filled eyes didn’t help in me remembering where I was though. I shook my head to clear away my dream like haze.

“We will be landing in a few minutes.” Jackson said grinning.” I knew you wouldn’t want to miss the view.”

I turned towards my window and pulled open the shade and squinted out into the bright world on the other side. The view literally took my breath away. The world was a magnificent hue of blue. The ocean and the sky seemed to blend seamlessly together as one. As I watched the sun light dance on top of the crystal ocean, I saw brilliant mountains forming in the distance.

Soon the placid ocean changed to a foamy white as we drew closer to land. Within moments, we were close enough to notice the rocky beaches where the white waters fiercely crashed into the giant black jagged boulders and momentarily swallowed them whole before spitting them back out and retreating back into the depths of the oceans.

Then within a blink of an eye, the world was further transformed into amazingly green rolling hills and beautiful flowing pastures. It was an incredible carpet of emerald green as far as the eye could see. I understood right away, why this place was considered magical. I had a strong urge to be able to stick my head out of the planes cabin and smell the air. I knew it must smell of sweet salt water and crisp greenery.

“Almost there guys, look to your right.” Jackson said, as he looked out of his own window a smile lighting up his face.

Addison was the first to spot it. He stuck his nose to the glass to get a better view.

“Oh my gosh!” He squealed in a very unmanly tone, “Is that it?”

Jackson smiled even bigger. “Yea sure is. That’s the Hunter’s Guild.”

I craned my neck as far as I could to see what I was missing. Finally, when it came into view I gasped at the beauty.

Delicately surrounded by the painted greens was a magnificent fortress perched on the edge of a cliff over looking the same white foamy ocean I had moments ago lavished over.

As the plane lazily circled the Massive structure in preparation to land, I had time to study the lay out of the land. There was the main building that was tracing the cliff and a kind of courtyard in front of it with a few scattered buildings surrounding the cobblestone area. A giant wall of stones the size of grown men surrounded the whole unit.

This place was magnificent and you could feel the power the building demanded. As the plane landed in the giant grassy area in front of the web of buildings, we prepared to exit the plane. Jackson grabbed the luggage and handed off one of the bags to Jackson and we followed him out of the mouth of the plane.

As we stood by the hatch of the plane, I looked up at the massiveness of the Hunter’s Guild. It was even more intimidating as it looked down at us from the ground. It gave off the feeling that whatever was held inside of its enormous body was gravely important.  I inhaled deeply as a slight breeze ruffled through my hair and clothes and I was right about how sweet the air smelled. You could smell the sea in the air and the crisp smell of green grass was everywhere. This place was majestic and magical. Even I could tell this was no ordinary place.

            “Its amazing isn’t it?” Jackson said.” I always feel in awe when I am here. No matter how many times I see this place it’s always like the first time all over again.”

            As I took in the beauty with all of my senses, the wind on my skin, the tantalizing scents in the air, the beauty of the land. I let myself feel a bit of happiness. I wasn’t thinking about my parents or the mess I had just endured. I let the magic of this country lift away all of my stress and I laughed aloud. It felt wonderful.

            “Hey look! Someone is coming!” Addison said cutting my giddiness short.

We all looked up to see three men on horseback quickly galloping towards us. As they came to a jerking stop in front of us, my feeling of elation had dissipated entirely.

The men were all wearing Black robes with a seal embroidered in red, of a circle separated into four separate equals on the right breast. The man in the front of the procession hopped down off his brown mare, took off his hood, and looked at the three of us.

            He was a strong looking middle-aged man. I guessed he was about the same age as my father. He had dark brown hair cut short and bright green eyes that practically glowed.

            “What is the meaning of this Jackson? What happened?” The man questioned.

            Jackson stepped up in front of our small group and looked up at the man who was at least four inches taller then him. He seemed to transform from the goofy guy that I knew to a strong man with the air of military training.

            “There was a small incident sir. Zavion raided the Cazador’s home and captured Belza and Forza. I got there in time to save these two and bring them here.” Jackson stood taller and seemed to swell with pride as he said the last part.

            “A small incident?!” the man barked. “That seems like a major incident to me kid. How long ago did this happen?”

Jackson stood up a bit straighter. “A little less then twenty four hours ago, sir. As soon as I got there I grabbed their plane tickets and made an earlier flight to head out here and let you know what happened so we could try and get their parents back.”

The man took a step back. “Twenty four hours ago? Why didn’t you inform us of this earlier? We could have sent out a team already! The trail will have gone cold by now!” He jumped back on his horse and quickly waved us towards the Guild. “You will need to explain everything to Sawaya as soon as possible.”

Jackson opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something and then he quickly changed his mind. As we began to walk to the entrance of the Guild, Jackson seemed to have deflated. The man on horse back quickly took the lead and turned to the two other men that had come with him.

            “Escort them to the conference room. I am going to let everyone know to gather there.” He shook his head and muttered under his breath. “This is what we get for letting a child do a Guardian’s job.” And with that he took off, the horse’s hoofs beating a rapid rhythm against the earth as his rider pushed him to his limits.

I looked over at Jackson. His shoulders stooped and his head hung low. I felt bad for him. I could see that he had thought he had done the right thing and was proud of the decisions he had made, but the thing that bothered me was, I had no idea if he really was right. What f he really had done something to jeapordize my parent’s rescue? What if there was no hope, all because he didn’t get in touch with the Guild sooner?

“Come on move it.”  The two men on horseback trotted behind us making us pick up the pace. Soon we were at the entrance of the main building. One of the men unsaddled his stead and tied the reins to a post that was located there and came over to the door.

“You know where to go kid. Don’t make any pit stops either.” He said gruffly to Jackson as he pushed open the over sized door and stood to the side as we all came inside. The inside of the castle was just as beautiful as the outside was. Gorgeous, high vaulted ceilings topped big stoned walls that sat on top of bright marbled floors. The man looked at Jackson and pointed down a corridor to the right.

            “Go ahead, and like I said, no pit stops.” He reiterated to Jackson before swiftly turning the other way and disappearing down another hallway. The only thing left of him was the sound of his heels striking the hard marble.

“Come on, follow me.” Jackson said gloomily as he started down the way the man had pointed.

We all walked in silence. Maybe it was because we could feel the situation had change drastically. I didn’t know what we had gotten ourselves into but I knew I owed Jackson an apology. He was on our side. That much I knew now but what that side was. At this exact moment, I couldn’t answer that.

            “That’s it, that’s the conference room.” Jackson nodded towards a big stained wood door at the end of the corridor. There were two guards in the same robes as the men on the horses on each side of the door. They stood still as stone statues with their arms crossed in front of their bodies.

            As we approached the door, we could hear a ruckus coming from inside the room. It sounded like there were quiet a few people in there and they were all speaking at once. When we came to a stop in front of the door, Jackson only hesitated for a small moment before taking a deep breath and shoving the door open.