Chapter 6: In the Hideout

I couldn't afford to stop even for a minute. Not even to think.

What if the witch saw me running just in time as she came out of the temple and is following me with her entourage? What if she had found out we were helped, and forced information out of Flora or Jinzic? What if she got a monstrous army to track us down?

Lots of troubling thoughts and questions, but not a moment to spare and slow down. I summoned all my energy to keep running, till I reached the hills, and tried to find the cave that Flora mentioned.

It took several minutes, before I saw a soft light emanating from a large crevice. I had to crouch in and was relieved to see my friends waiting with a torch in hand.

"Did you get the book, Sid?" Steve asked.

I valiantly brandished the book in front of them. They let out a little victorious whoop and hugged me happily. I told them to extinguish the torch, so no one would be able to spot us. Once more in the dark, there was just a subdued evening light from outside to help us see.

I asked them to relate the details of their escape. Jim said it went as per plan. When they pushed the Jinzic and ran, Selene instructed the gnome to follow us.

"As expected, Selene told him to run after us and get us back. But we also heard her shout out 'Vozig'. Once we were out of her sight, Jinzic showed us which direction to take, and informed us that Vozig was the ogre. He told us to hurry because Vozig would soon be on our tail with his ogre community. They are Selene's soldiers."

*Just as I thought.*

"We had almost reached the hills, when we heard the combined roars of a torment of ogres in the distance. We became wary of making noise that would give us away if we were too fast. We had to slow down our run and make sure we remained hidden as we headed toward the hills. Believe me, it was a double-edged sword as we made our way here. Didn't want to be seen, didn't want to be slow either."

Steve continued, "Luckily, we managed to stay together and reached this cave without been spotted. We did have a close shave once though. One of those ghastly creatures walked past us in search, as we remained hidden behind a huge oak tree. We were afraid to breathe, for fear of being found out!"

I quickly told them about my encounters with the dark spirits, and they congratulated me and backslapped me. They were amazed how I dealt with them...Hell! I was amazed at how I dealt with them!

"Now we just sit quiet and wait for Flora to come," I said.

As the sun went down and the cave was enveloped in absolute darkness, we started wondering if the fairy would make it to us. But she didn't disappoint us, when we heard her voice outside informing us of her arrival.

She had brought us something to eat and drink - God bless her! She also told us something that felt like manna for the soul. She had spoken to the Fairy Queen in Fairyland, about the situation, and assured us the complete support of her clan.

"But," she forewarned, "no one must know, until it is time that we can do something. Or Selene will harm our families."

"We promise our discretion. Unless we have a definite plan in place, we shall not discuss the involvement of the fairies," I gave her my word. "We need to unite all the forest communities. Only then can we overthrow the reign of Selene."

I paused in thought and spoke, "Can the gnomes join your herd? And what about the other creatures? There was a dwarf as well when you brought us into the forest. Tell us about him."

"That is Gibel," informed Flora. "He provides the weapons for the soldiers. The ogres, the trolls and the gremlins form the army. The dwarf and his ilk are not bad, but they are cousins of the gremlins who fight for Selene. The gremlins are very nasty, while the dwarves are a community that prefer to live their lives in peace. They are more interested in the fruits of their labor."

She continued, "Gibel has joined hands with Selene on the promise of being offered the complete management of the armory. His gain would be gems, and honor and importance among his people." We nodded in understanding.

"As for the gnomes, I haven't had the chance to meet Jinzic after you fled. Tomorrow, I'll talk to him about joining forces with us against Selene. But he's a friend, and it looks hopeful."

She left us to rest and said we'd meet before sunrise the next day to chart what should be our next plan of action.

We were extremely tired and slept well in spite of the rocky floor, but not before doing a little brain storming. Roy came up with the first idea, "Hey, doesn't the witch lose her power if someone else has the book? That's what the gnome told us. Does that mean, we have our powers back?"

"Oh my God, yes! Good thinking Roy. Actually, she will not lose her own powers, but the spells she cast will be cancelled. The shield of overriding power that she had put over the forest must have dissipated. Try to see if it works," I implored.

He looked down in concentration and, poof, he was outside the cave. He crouched back in looking smug with excitement. We almost did a happy dance. Steve was glad that he would be able to use his sketch pen again to advantage. With that satisfaction, we dropped off to sleep.

Flora woke us up again the next morning, while it was still dark. She was a woman of her word! She came into the cave with her gnome buddy.

We were happy to see Jinzic, because that spelt hope. We discussed the gnomes' support and he was in favor. But he would need time to work it out with his people. Fair enough.

*Score! So, what do we do until then?*