A Journey To The Clouds, A Fantastical Prophecy - Book One - ✓

Chapter Twenty-two

Me and Connor finished the last of the codes at around noon. We quickly reviewed what we had discovered:

You will find me on your land;

Not in a sea of clouds.

In the land of the free and the home of the brave,

You cannot expect to be lent a hand.

The world you must save cannot become plain sand.

Oh land of ,opportunity the journey you have ahead.

I am tan and hard to see so be sure to look carefully.

I am where you least expect but this message will be direct;

You can find me in a forest

Then you shall start your quest

The forest looks like a fairytale

But only who can open is female

I have great magnificent curves

The birds who fly overhead are doves.

Be careful, tread lightly or this world will be no more

Steal their mothers

In the castle there is a fire

And the Crew of Doom has a great desire

Up five feet and down ten

There you are in the den

Get rid of men's souls, we shall outsmart

The two mothers will burn, through their flesh and their aching heart.

Two kids shall start on June eighth

They shall soon face Crew of Doom's wraith

Take the souls of whom the young look up towards.

As the Crew of Doom fight with swords.

The last one wasn't written in code. . even then we need to still figure out what it means. What all of them mean.

"Connor, I think it's time we start our journey. We have all of the codes here, we can figure out what they mean along the way. We need to stop procrastinating. . You understand, right? We have already wasted as much time as it is. . . to the point where we've already lost important people in our lives." I ask. Connor nods, lowers his eyes, and says nothing.

"How will we start?" He asks.

"I'm not sure. . . the first code gave the key word curves. . . what structure in a forest has curves?" I ask him.

"Trees could sometimes have curves. . . or arches. ." He drifts off. His eyes suddenly light up.

"Arches. . that's it!" He announces.

"Connor, what do you mean?" I ask him. My eyes widen. . . he's certainly correct that arches have curves.

"Well, if you've read fantasy, you must know about the countless entrances and arches used in secret places. . . particularly forests. . . this archway could be the entrance to the fantasy worlds!" He declares, practically yelling with excitement.

"If it was an archway, or entrance as you call it, how would we get there?" I keep looking at the poems and codes to see if I can understand them more. Connor's eyes suddenly get dull.

"I don't know, yet." He says. I sigh. I reach into my pocket and pick up my mothers last note to me. I read it, holding it to my heart. Connor looks at me and his eyes soften.

"Let's go to the nearest woodland and start there. . . there must be some other clues. . . for our mothers." He says, putting his hand on the table. I put mine on top of his.

"For our mothers." I shout. I don't take my hand off of his though, and he continues to look at me until I break the silence.

"Go grab anything we might need, Connor." I tell him. He nods, and he rushes to his room. I keep trying to go over the codes in my head, but it just doesn't fit. . nothing does. As far as we know, the entrance might not be an arch. It could be it's polar opposite. I grab the codes and I shove them in my pocket along with my phone. Like we're going to get any cell phone service there. The unlimited data plan might not work in the middle of the woods, but nevertheless, I still put it in my pocket.

"I have a first aid kit, some blankets, a small tent, two small pillows, some really long rope, and... some small things of food." he lists, coming back into the dining room. I jump at the sound of his voice.

"Ok that's good. I need to take a quick stop to my house before we head off on this unprecedented journey. That is where the fun will start." I tell him, smiling.

"Fun? What fun?" Connor asks, tilting his head to one side.

"The weapons, silly! In case we need to defend ourselves." I say.

"Oh, makes sense now." He says. He points his fingers like a shotgun, and takes cover behind one of the chairs. I laugh heartily. I turn towards the foyer to head out the door.

We sprint all the way to my house. I stop short and take some breaths. I walk inside and into the kitchen to find some knives. We have some long ones so I'll take a small backpack full of them and a handbag full of the more dangerous ones. My father had a machete somewhere and I think we put it in the garage. I take the leather covers with the knives as well. Sure, we're old enough to handle them, but during this journey, I would rather be safe than sorry.

"In case you were wondering, my father was a member of the army, and often when he wasn't deployed, he would keep other weapons near." I tell him. I can see his eyes are bright with concern. "For defensive purposes." I add. Connor sighs dramatically with relief.

"Connor, look wherever you want and see if you can find some weapons." I instruct, briefly looking over my shoulder. He salutes and hurries off. Probably to the basement.

I continue looking for about five minutes. Then, I see what looks to be a ripped piece of paper. From where I stand, it looks to be older, and the paper is stained yellow. I run over to pick it up.

I smile with pride and I see something else. I slowly walk over to it. I think it's a. . . sword. There is a note attached to it. I recognized the handwriting immediately. It says:

Dear Ally,

I've heard what happened. I know what you're thinking. You're probably wondering how did I know? Am I right? I thought so. Now you need to believe you can do this. Because you CAN. Al, you're the smartest young lady I know.

I know how much damage this may have caused you on the inside. But you can do this Ally. You can take those giants and cyclops on. You will free Hazel, Lily, your mom, and Connor's mom. Ally. . .I have visions too.

Dad

My heart. I can't even begin. I don't know what to say. I run back in the house and look around wildly for Connor. I creep upstairs and find him searching the closet that is full of blankets and towels. Connor sees me and looks up.

"Wow! Ally, where did you get that?" he asks wide eyed.

"I found it in my garage. My dad left it."

"How do you know"

"This."

He reads the note, drops it, and stares at me open mouthed.