Clyde's Journey

Chapter 11

"What do we do now?" Lilly asked.

"I don't know," Clyde responded. "Wait, do you have that water bucket from when we were stuck in that ravine?"

Lilly checks her bag; the bucket is inside. She pulls out the bucket and zips up the bag.

"Got it here." replied Lilly.

Lilly and Clyde walked toward the end of the mineshaft to curiously see Sofia, Poppy, Ruffles, Ronaldo, and Melissa walking out of the tunnel.

"You're back!" Lilly yelled in joy as Poppy tackled her into a hug. "Wait, how did you get out?"

"Ruffles took some pieces of dripstone and stabbed them into a pillar to make a ladder." Melissa answered.

"Glad you two are okay. Now let's get going. We can still make it by sunset." Ronaldo explained.

The group walked through the plains until they reached the Frog Kingdom, where the setting of the sun cast a glow over the tall mangrove and dark oak walls concealing the village. Stepping through the entrance, they froze, stunned by what they saw.

The village had transformed. What was once a peaceful, lively place was now bustling with armored figures patrolling newly built watchtowers and barricades. It looked more like a fortress than a home. On the top of Clyde's castle, the frog statue was burning, a large crane holding a new statue, one of a blank expression resembling one person. Myles.

"... What happened here?" Melissa asked, her face frozen with terror.

Clyde sped ahead to investigate, Ronaldo and Ruffles quickly chasing behind.

Clyde thought about all the things that happened, all the things that could have been avoided, had he stayed in the castle. He ran forward, his head filled with anger and fear.

"Alright, what's going on here!" Clyde yelled in rage and fear, his daggers held in his hands.

The guards looked at Clyde angrily, charging at him within seconds.

"Get him!" a guard yelled.

The guards ran at him, swords drawn out, ready to attack.

"Maybe I should have thought about this." Clyde thought to himself.

A guard swung his sword at Clyde, it barely about to hit him, when Ruffles jumped in the way, parrying with his own iron sword. Ronaldo ran at the guards, knocking multiple guards out in a single swing. Suddenly, two hooded figures pulled out netherite swords, attacking the guards, getting rid of them in a matter of seconds. The two figure took off their hoods, revealing themselves to be Wenzo and Tazoh.

"C'mon, we need to get out of here." Tazoh explained.

As the group took in the shocking changes to the village, a guard nearby spotted them from the shadows. Not the brightest mind, he mistook Poppy's similar height and orange hair for Clyde and crept up silently from behind.

After grabbing Poppy, he looked at the rest of the group's faces, including Clyde's, realizing his mistake. Luckily for him, more guards came to assist him in battle. He grabbed Poppy while the other soldiers formed a wall around him.

 "Let me go!" Poppy commanded.

Clyde ducked under a guard and ran toward the one holding Poppy, daggers held in his hands. Suddenly, a hand pulled him back by the shoulder.

 "Clyde, we need to get out of here." explained Wenzo.

 "Not without my friend." Clyde replied.

Clyde then ran back toward Poppy - or at least he tried to before Ronaldo picked Clyde up and put him on his shoulder.

 "Ronaldo, let me go!" Clyde yelled.

 "This is so undignified." Clyde muttered.

While Clyde was being carried by Ronaldo, Sofia and Lilly were planning to go save Poppy, when Ruffles grabbed their hands (a slight blush from Sofia) and stopped them.

 "We need to retreat. We'll find her later." Ruffles reassured.

By then, the soldier who took Poppy had disappeared, along with Poppy. The guards had surrounded them, giving them nowhere to escape.

"How do we get out now?" Sofia asked.

"Like this." replied Tazoh, while he put his hand into his bag.

Tazoh pulled out a small glass bottle filled with a shimmering, dark-blue liquid. Without hesitation, he tossed it to the ground, and it shattered, releasing a thick, swirling smoke that quickly spread, enveloping the group and obscuring them from the guards' sight.

"Move quickly, stay low!" Tazoh yelled as he led them through the thick smoke.

The guards' confused shouts grew muffled as they stumbled blindly, swinging their weapons at shadows in the haze.

Ronaldo, still holding Clyde, moved forward with the others, navigating the cover of smoke with swift precision. As they slipped out of the guards' reach, they found themselves near the edge of the village, the dense forest offering them a momentary cover.

Once they were safe behind the trees, Ronaldo set Clyde down, who immediately turned back toward the village, anger flashing in his eyes.

"We have to go back for Poppy," he said, barely able to contain himself.

"We will," Wenzo said, resting a hand on Clyde's shoulder to steady him. "But rushing in blindly isn't going to help her. Myles has likely fortified every corner of the village by now."

Sofia, catching her breath, looked over at Wenzo with determination. "So what's the plan, then?"

Wenzo's gaze darkened. "We need allies. Myles won't expect us to gather forces. If we rally the villages nearby, we might stand a chance against his hold."

Tazoh nodded. "There are people who owe us favors and some who would be willing to fight for their freedom. If we're going to challenge Myles, we'll need to be strategic."

"Where do we start?" Melissa asked, her voice steady, but her eyes filled with worry for Poppy.

Wenzo looked around at each of them, resolve clear in his gaze. "First, we head to the Cold Frog Kingdom. The people there are tough, and many of them were loyal to our kingdom when we were looking for you. If we can get their help, we'll have a fighting chance."

Clyde's fists clenched, but he gave a determined nod. "Then let's go. Every second we waste, Myles tightens his grip on the kingdom—and on Poppy."

The group, now resolved to their mission, began their journey through the dense forest, sticking to the shadows to avoid detection. As they moved, Clyde fell back to walk beside Ronaldo.

"Do you think we'll be able to pull this off?" Clyde asked quietly, his gaze distant.

Ronaldo glanced down at him, his usual lighthearted expression replaced with a rare seriousness. "We will. I know we will. Besides," he added with a small smile, "we have you, and I think you're more capable than you give yourself credit for."

Clyde felt a flicker of hope. With the group being reunited and having a growing plan, the possibility of taking back the Frog Kingdom felt less impossible.

The group made their way through the dense woods, carefully navigating by the light of the rising moon, until they reached the mouth of a secluded cave hidden behind thick brush. Wenzo led them inside, where a concealed stone door opened to reveal a small, well-worn bunker carved into the rock, yet they had no idea what was going to happen yet.