After about three days, I finally made it to Denaria. I headed to the main city next to the mountain. I was dying of hunger and thirst. I walked over to the closest store to see if I could buy something. I walked in and asked how much a loaf of bread cost.
"One loaf of bread costs 20 denara," he said.
"I don't have any denara," I said. "Will you take gillian?"
"Nope we only take denara in Denaria," he said.
"Please, can I just have some bread? I haven't eaten in three days," I said desperately.
"Alright but just this once," he said, handing me some bread. I ate it and then thanked him and went toward the mountains.
When I began my hike I was going fast, but then as I got higher it got harder and harder. I was looking for a cave or something that could be Sethdore's hideout. Later it was starting to get dark, so I stopped for the night and made a fire to stay warm. Then I settled in for the night. A little after I fell asleep, a noise woke me up. Then the noise got louder and some bushes started moving. I didn't have anything to protect myself with so I waited to see what it was. Then Rudlin stumbled out of the bushes.
"Rudlin!" I exclaimed. "How did you get here?"
"Oh hey Cloud! I just woke up in the middle of the forest," he said sounding confused. "It was kind of weird that I fell asleep in that house and woke in the forest though."
"It's been about three days since I was at that house," I said.
"How weird," he said. "I guess I was put under some sort of spell."
"That is what I thought," I said.
"Come on, I have a place that we can stay safely," he said. "Follow me." He lead me through some bushes and around a big rock to a cave opening in the side of the mountain. I thought it was kind of strange that he knew about this when he said he just woke up, but who cares. He lead me deeper into the cave. He lead me so deep that I couldn't even see him.
"Rudlin!" I called but no answer. "Rudlin where are y-" I felt a heavy object hit me on the head and I saw stars and fell to the ground.
When I woke up it was bright and I realized that I was in some sort of jail.
"Ha! I really fooled you, didn't I?" a voice said and Rudlin stepped into the light.
"Rudlin, what is wrong with you?" I asked. Rudlin laughed and then sort of melted into the old man from the house beside the road.
"Well guess what, I'm not Rudlin," he said.
"Who are you then?" I asked.
"I am an enemy of Sethdore, who is your father," he said.
"W-What? Sethdore is definitely not my father," I said.
"Oh he is. It's just that he never told you," he said.
I could not believe what I was being told.
"But I don't look anything like Sethdore," I argued.
"That is true. You look like your mother and you never saw you father, did you?" he asked. It was true that I had never seen or heard anything about him.
"But Sethdore is the reason that my mother died," I said remembering the explosions and fire that Sethdore had caused.
"He didn't want her to tell who he was, and he wanted you to join him," he said.
"How do you know all of this stuff?" I demanded.
"Because I am Sethdore's brother," he explained.
"So why are you against him?" I asked.
"Because he is trying to find the gem of unlimited power to power a massive moving fortress to take over the world," he said.
"Well then we must stop him and save my friends," I said. "Let me out. I know how to fight and you'll need my help."
"Sorry but I cannot take you. I will stop Sethdore and save your friends. I have left some food and water in there for you so you won't die," he said.
"Please! I need to make sure that my friends are safe," I pleaded. "And I might be able to turn Sethdore back to good."
"No Sethdore is far beyond being turned to good. Don't worry, I will save your friends," he said reassuringly. "Sit tight I'll be back soon." Then he went off into the darkness, leaving me to think about what I was just told.
Just to be clear, denara and gillian are forms of money.
(Photo of Denaria mountains.)
If you didn't read the other chapters then here they are:
Chapter 2
Chapter 1
