The Unexplained

Chapter 2 The elders

" Come with me" said the man in a frantic tone. " We must consult with the elders. Two guards stepped forward an grabbed my arms. Annabelle and Ash followed behind them as Jake was led into a long corridor with a gate on the left and right, that must be how to get to each side. As they continued straight past the gates and up a flight of stairs they arrived on top of the separation wall. Jake could not believe his eyes, on the left was a lot of cabins with blacksmiths hammering away at molten metal. Most were making swords armour and shields. Jake guessed that this must be the wolves side. On the right there was more cabins but instead of having people making the weapons, there was robots buzzing around delivering guns, advanced power suits of armour like Ashes, and swords with a laser edges on them. That must be the scorpions side. Running straight through the centre of the camp was a tall wide wall that they were standing on that separated the two sides. Jake thought that they must not like each other. At the very end of the wall, on top was a huge temple. Jake refocused on the blacksmiths metal that they were hammering. It glistened much more than regular steel. " what is that metal that they are using?" Asked Jake. " That is called concentrated sliver, it is five times stronger than normal steel and half the weight." Said Annabelle. They walked along the wall towards the entrance of the temple. The temple had many armed guards wearing armour. They all had a lion symbol on their breastplates, drawn in gold paint. They walked through the giant gates, and into the huge meeting room. Twelve tall chairs were in a semi circle around a oval table at the opposite end of the table there was one big gold chair with an old man sitting in it. "What do you want!" His deep voice bellowed across the wide open room. " This boy's scan was 50-50 sire" the operators frail voice said back. " Get him out of here, I want to speak with you only!" "Okay sire" the operators voice replied. " come on" said Annabelle. Annabelle grabbed Jakes arm and led him out and back onto the wall. "Come on let's go to the armoury and get you some weapons. " Ok" said Jake simply. Annabelle led Jake down the stairs and into the wolves side. As we walked down the street the delicious smells of bread wafted out of the bakery's doors. Eventually we arrived at the armoury, a short grey building that had a menacing look to it. Annabelle led the way through the doors and into the building. Many swords, axes, shields, and armour lined the walls. Everything had different sizes to suit the users needs. "How about this one?" Asked Annabelle holding up a large broad sword. " no, that's to big." "What about this one?" Said Annabelle holding up a mace. " No, not that one either" said Jake. " I like this" said Jake holding up a metal breastplate with a dragon painted in gold on the front. " Okay you can get the breastplate, and do you like any thing else?." " Hmm, let's see" said Jake. He glanced around at the plethora of weapons around the room. Sadly nothing seemed to take his fancy. "I can't see anything else I like" said Jake with a disappointed glance at the floor. "That's ok" reassured Annabelle "you can always come back later and pick up a weapon of your choice". And with that Jake and Annabelle set out onto the streets. Strolling down the middle of the street, Jake could feel the eyes of the various people around him burning into his head like laser beams. 'Obviously word has already spread around the camp' Jake thought to himself. "Why is everyone staring at me?" Jake whispered to Annabelle. "It's because you are the first person in a very long time to be undecided on which side you belong too" Annabelle replied. "It's not a bad thing, it's just that no one trusts someone who isn't in their faction". 'Well that explains the staring' Jake thought. "It is time to find you a place to stay in the mean time while the elders decide what side you shall join". Jake and Annabelle went to every inn inside the camp but all of them refused to let a 'undecided one' stay in their buildings. "This sucks" said Jake "no one will let me spend the night." "I'm sure we can find you a place to stay" said Annabelle. "You know, there was only one other 'undecided one' before you" explained Annabelle "Legend says that he was the greatest warrior to ever live". "Annabelle!" A voice shouted from down the street. A guy wearing futuristic armour was sprinting down the street towards them. "It's Ash" exclaimed Jake. It was very unusual for a member of the opposite faction to leave their territory. "Annabelle come quick, the elders need your opinion immediately!" Ash said in a breathless tone. "Opinion on what?" Annabelle questioned, "I still have not got Jake a place to spend the night." "Well he will have to find his own place to stay, we need to go urgently" responded Ash. Ash hurriedly ushered Annabelle toward the temple. She reluctantly followed. The light was fast fading, Jake had to find a place to stay and fast. "Here he is!" Exclaimed a gruff voice from the shadows. "We don't take kindly to people who are not from our faction" said someone in the darkness. Three men dressed in black coats stepped into the light. "Run little boy" one of the men mocked. Jake turned on his heels and sprinted down the street as fast as his legs would take him. He turned around to see that the men were right on his tail. In a last ditch effort to get away, Jake dived down an ally between the dividing wall and a shop. He sprinted to the end only to find that it was a dead end! The men followed him inside. "This is what we do to your kind" the man at the front exclaimed in a sinister tone. He stepped forward and struck Jake in the eye. Dazed and in pain, Jake stumbled around for something to support himself on. The punch was swiftly followed up by a blow to the chest. Jake fell to the cold stone paved ground. Deep Inside he knew that there was nothing he could do to protect himself. The man pulled his head up and punched him in the nose. A torrent of blood cascaded down his face. "Let's get out of here" the man commanded. And with that the three men left Jake crumpled on the cold floor. Jakes head was lying in a puddle of his blood. His weeping rang out through the darkness. Through his blurred vision he noticed a gold dragon painted on one of the bricks on the dividing wall. It had a faint golden glow. He pressed it and it slid into the wall. A grinding sound was followed by several other bricks sliding aside to reveal a hidden door. He glanced through the door to see a room on the inside of the dividing wall. No one would guess that this section of the dividing wall was hollow. A wooden sign on the opposite wall read 'This home was built by Isaac Turner, may only the worthy enter'.