The Amethyst Flame

Chapter 13 - A Grave Realization

It was the dead of night when we escaped. Had we really been in the maze that long? Nothing about our situation made any sense.

"Who is Maelfor anyway?" I asked with a shudder.

"Don't know. I should know, but I've never heard of him before. This is all my fault!" Jethro broke down into tears.

I hugged him tightly and held his head next to my heart.

"You hear that beating heart, J?" I asked with a smile.

"Yeah, what about it?" he asked, perplexed.

"As long as it beats, I will protect you," I whispered.

"Thank you," he whispered thankful.

We both shivered and started a campfire using our new fireball spell. Maelfor was probably tearing his hair out at our escape.

"Tomorrow we go home, no exceptions," I warned as I began roasting frost bells on a stick. They're rather unusual plants, sky-blue on the outside and golden-yellow on the inside. They were named for their bell shape and make a faint jingle when you shake them. Frost bells are highly toxic in their natural state but are harmless once cooked. I love their tangy taste, but unfortunately, our family can rarely afford them. A handful costs twelve coppers. That's how much I make in a month!

"But Arthur, Maelfor is sti-"

"I DON'T CARE! ALL YOU EVER DO IS SCREW EVERYTHING UP. HOW ABOUT YOU LISTEN TO LOGIC AND REASON FOR ONCE?!" I shouted, enraged.

Jethro went silent, but not before muttering about how annoying I was.

Once the frost bells were ready, we both wolfed them down. I hadn't had any in almost an entire year. They're costly because they only bloom during the last two weeks of March. I'm jealous of my feudal lord Travert. He makes about fifteen hundred coppers a month and is the stingiest man I've ever met. He bullies our family constantly and reminds us of our low social class. I remember the time my father stood up to him once. Once, because he was flogged in the town square for disobeying his master or some nonsense.

We heard strange high-pitched chattering in the bushes behind us. It couldn't have come from a human and was in a language we had never before heard.

"Come out now!" Jethro shouted with a trembling voice.

The creatures came out, and to my shock, they were goblins. Foul beasts they are; they'll rob you of all your belongings and then sell them at their markets. They're like Jadehoods but without brains.

"What do you want?" I asked, annoyed.

"Human have shiny. Give now or human die," the goblin spoke in hilariously broken English.

"Human have no shiny. Leave now or goblin die," Jethro mockingly replied.

"Human lies. Baktar sees jewel knife," the annoyed being replied.

"You never told me you took it!" I shouted in frustration at Jethro.

"Isaac was dead. He didn't need it anymore. Neither does this ugly beast!" he shouted, plunging the dagger deep into the goblin's neck. He fell over with a gasp, and Jethro looked smug as ever.

That was when I noticed pairs of about a hundred eyes staring at us from the bushes. We quickly realized how screwed we were from what they said next.

"Leader dead! Roast killers alive! Yum yum for everyone!" the angry voices shouted from the bushes.

The goblins unanimously let out a deafening battle cry, and Jethro and I bolted in the polar opposite direction of the beasts. We ran past thorns and thistles, ignoring the searing pain of our bleeding ankles.

"When we escape from these things, I'm roasting you alive myself," I shouted irately at Jethro while struggling to catch my breath.

"You have every right. In fact, you ca-" he started before letting out an agonizing scream. I wanted to ask him what caused his pain before noticing an arrow sticking out of his shoulder.

"Stay away!" I shouted towards the goblins before casting Blazeburn. It held them off for a few seconds, but they simply went around the flames.

Jethro and I reached a waterfall and looked at each other for about a quarter of a second.

"We have no other choice," I said through gritted teeth.

We jumped into the freezing water just as the goblins reached the waterfall.