Ring of Power

Chapter 10: The Realization

     The night Emerald escaped from the dungeon, Pyramus went to the guard house and aroused the other guards angrily. He did not take lightly to prison breaks, especially when it's an outlaw (a little girl, no doubt!) he's been trying to catch for eight years now.
     "Everyone out of bed! Eyes up here men!" he shouted, at the angry mumbles he received for waking them up in the middle of the night.
     "Yes Captain!"
     "Right away Captain!"
     He got in reply (after all the angry grumbles of course).
     They all stood at attention. He walked up and down the line of men with his back straight and visible anger in his pace.
     "A prisoner has escaped our dungeons." He said pausing as a gasp broke out across the room, "It was our little outlaw and her friend. Apparently I didn't scare him enough when we first chatted.
     "Now I want men in that forest looking for our outlaw night and day all week long. I will lead both night shifts and Langer will lead both day shifts.
     "She is a young girl, 16 years of age to be precise, and she has long blonde hair. Her eyes are a bright green in colour and her face is thin and very white. You may not see her face since she always wears a cloak with her cowl pulled up. She hides in the trees, never misses, and can hear pretty much anything.
     "You will all have to be on the lookout and never, I repeat never make a loud sound when near her. She will find you and run, and once she runs, you will not find her again for some time.
     "I also know a boy from the village helped her escape. It was the same boy that told us where to find her. His name is Xavier Hunt. He is out there with her; therefore he is now an outlaw and must be brought to justice as well. If you can find him, bring him in with the girl." He concluded with an evil grin.
     Langer was Pyramus' right hand man. They had been best friends since they were young boys. They fought together in many battles and had always been there for each other. He was Pyramus' most trusted man and always had his back.
     Pyramus had a tactic for the patrol in the forest. His patrol consisted of 16 men and was the main Guard Patrol. He asked Langer to help and he greatly accepted, Langer had his own patrol and he was there with Pyramus when the break out had happened. He split his and Langer's patrol in half. The first eight of Langer's patrol would be in the morning after breakfast and the other half after lunch. Pyramus' two patrols of eight men split the night in half.
     He sent out the first patrol and arranged it so that there were men in the forest at all times.
     He would not let her hide any longer.

     Emerald woke to find Xavier looking at the purple feathers on her hand-made arrows. She had to ground violet flower petals and mix them in clear water. Then she put the feathers into the mixture and left them in the purple water over night. The next morning she would leave them in the sun to dry. When Xavier noticed she was awake, he grinned.
     She was extremely tired from the night before and still had no idea what the riddle was about. She was looking at Xavier, wondering whether or not she should tell him about last night. Would he believe her? She thought he would and took the chance, so she decided to tell him.
    At first, Xavier just looked at her like she was out of her mind (which she could have been) but then he slowly nodded.
     "So...you believe me?" Emerald asked hesitantly.
     He looked at her thinking about his answer before he replied, "Yes...and no..."
     Emerald gave him a confused look.
     "You are sure it wasn't a dream?" He asked questioningly, still processing her strange story.
     "Yes! I couldn't sleep, therefore I wasn't dreaming!"
     He thought for a moment more.
     "I believe you." He finally replied.
     Emerald's smile stretched from one ear to the other. She knew he would believe her! She just had to give him a minute to process the whole thing.   Now, figuring out what the object is would be the problem...
     "So, you have no idea what the old man was talking about?" He asked bringing her back to the present.
     "None." She replied puzzled.
     "Hmm...think back to when you were young. Who is the she?" He asked, thinking if they took it step by step sooner or later Emerald would remember, and hopefully it would be sooner.
     "Well I wasn't allowed to talk to anyone but my parents, so the only she I knew was my mother. That has to be who he meant."
     "Well what did she have that you only saw once?"
     "That's the problem; it has been eight years since I have seen my mother, let alone her belongings. I remember few things about her. I can't remember seeing anything only once."
     "What thing of hers did you want and searched for and then later quit? I mean...there can only be one thing that fits all those things."
     "I can't re—" Emerald paused starting to get angry; then she was hit by a sudden, shocking thought. But, it was so...small...
     "What?" Xavier asked confused by the look on her face.
      "That's it!" She exclaimed excitedly.
     "What's it?"
     "I know what the riddle described!    When my mother and I were down by the river collecting berries for dinner one night, I caught a short glimpse of a beautiful ring on her finger that I had never seen before. When she saw me looking at it, she hid it from my view. She told me to never tell anyone I saw it.
     "Once she died, I was curious as to what happened to the ring. I noticed it wasn't on her finger and I searched everywhere for it. I was just a little girl and was tired of looking for it. So I gave up and never thought much about the mysterious ring, or its disappearance, until today.
     "The problem is, I have no idea where to look for it! The days that I did search, I looked in every fort, article of clothing she owned, and anywhere or in anything else that came to mind. I concluded that it must have just...disappeared." She got a faraway look in her eyes.
     She didn't know how it had disappeared, but that is the only explanation she could give for never finding the ring. Plus, didn't the old man say to beware? That confirmed her suspicions... somewhat. Could it be...magic?
     "How could a ring disappear?" Xavier asked.
     "I have no clue, unless it was magic. I mean I knew my parents practiced magic in secret, but I never thought of them possessing magic relics too."
     "Well, apparently they did. We need to find that ring."
     Emerald nodded, but where to look?