The Rosewood Prophecy

Chapter 11

                                                                                      Aaron

Shadows flickered on the walls as the flames of candles tremor with every slight breeze. Outside, an owl hooted, and somewhere in the distant, a lone wolf howled. The curtains, pulled shut, blocked the pale moonlight that spilled into the room. It was past midnight. Yet the seven of us huddled around the tables, wide awake.

"So, everyone knows the basic gist, right?" asked Indigo. "Who we're up against, what we are supposed to do, where we're supposed to go, all that?" Everyone nodded.

"Good. Right now, we need to formulate a plan. Any ideas?" Indigo looked around. We looked at each other, then directed our gazes back to her.

"No? Just because I'm in charge of battle strategies and such doesn't mean I can come up with the whole plan," said Indigo. "We need to work together, guys."

"I think we're all pretty lost right now," Ashley spoke up. "It's a lot of things to take in all at once, not to mention formulate a plan that will determine our every step."

"Let's go step by step. We're heading towards the Northern Mountains. So, how do we get there? Katherine?"

"I think we should head north till we reach Strongfair, then head east." Katherine traced her finger across the map that was spread out on the table. "We'll go past Dead Man's Chasm, Desederium Forest, and a couple other landmarks along the way, until we reach Swordbreak. Then we'll go around the Wailing Desert, all the way to Doveport, and then go up Crystallea to the Boreal Forests. From there, we should be able to reach the Northern Mountains pretty easily."

"Why not just cut straight across Crystallea?" Lucian drew a line with his finger from Northbell to the Northern Mountains. "The shortest distance between two points is a line. If we go this way, we'll get there faster."

"Yeah, but look at what we'll have to go through," Jason countered. "There's the Bottomless Pits, Hallway of the Giants, and the Boglands, not to mention there's not that many villages and roads this way. What are we going to do, camp outside every night and hunt every day?"

"But it's faster," Lucian insisted. "The pits and bogs can't be that bad, right? Nothing we can't handle."

"Actually, that's the precise reason why I didn't suggest that route," Katherine said. "The pits are a desolate landscape left behind from past wars, filled with chasms and quicksand, and other dangers. I'm told that there are vultures as big as horse-carts and snakes as long as three of you. The Hallway of the Giants is in fact a narrow strip between two towering cliffs. I would not suggest we go there. And the Boglands? Let's just say there's nowhere safe to step. Not even a single strip of solid earth for you to step on."

"Psh. Whatever. It'll be shorter." Lucian waved the concerns aside.

"I side with Katherine," said Ashley. "It's simply too dangerous the other way. What if the Evils catch up to us? What if they trap us in one of those places? It'll be a piece of cake for them to catch all of us and kill us all in such barren and dangerous places. Who's going to save the world?"

"But wouldn't it take longer to save the world if we go the long way?" Lucian said.

"It's safer," said Ashley and Jason together.

"Guys, maybe we can compromise," said Indigo. She studied the map. "Does anyone else have an idea of which way we should go?"

"Well..." Rachel looked at the book she had open. "What if we start off as Katherine said, travel till Strongfair, but instead of going through Dead Man's Chasm we go down the River of the Nymphs instead? It would save us a lot of time."