The Beginning Of The End

Chapter 7

The light blinds me for a few seconds as I have been immersed in darkness going down the tree. As my eyes grow used to the brightness, I start to glance around the room. It is huge! No windows. Lots of doors. Lots of passages! Wow. Then I focus on Mara. She looks happy. Happier than I have seen her in these months. Mara is talking to a group of people. I can see Peter, Tom, Natalie, Kat and Robin. Robin is talking to this older boy I don't recognise. He walks up to me.

"Hello,"

"Hi."

It is Robin that introduces us.

"Artemis, this is Steve. Steve, this is Artemis."

We shake hands. Steve looks at me expectantly. I know what he is going to say. Something about Aria. I know it.

"Aria is that way."

Ok. Not what I expected, but I was right. I follow Steve though a door and down the dark corridor. When the door closes, the corridor is immersed in total darkness. There is a burst of light that seemed to originate from Steve's hands and we are immersed in light. We walk further into the corridor with the light following us.

"You did well."

"Um, what?"

"Your test. You did well."'

"Thanks."

"One last thing though."

Oh O. I don't like what I think I am about to hear. Another test.

"Another test," says Steve.

"Stand in the middle of the corridor and get me on the ground.'

Yay. Combat.

"BEGIN."

I swing my arm to where Steve use to be. Nothing. I kick at where his feet should be. Again I miss. I here a sneeze. Wait! I shouldn't head towards it. He is smarter than that. As if Steve would sneeze in the middle of a test. I think. There! Another sneeze. I walk backwards and stretched out. My fingers brush against something. I keep running around the corridor trying to get some knowledge of where Steve is. I give up and sit on the ground. Maybe he knew I was coming. I did make a lot of noise. I stand up and walk quietly around. Still no clue. I stretch my hands above my head in frustration. This is a waste of my time. Aria is sick and no one will tell me where she is. YOUCH! I feel my hand heat up. I stumble way from the heat. Embarrassed of the way I acted, I straighten my shoulders and look around in the unforgiving darkness. I walk forwards with my right hand on the wall. It heats up again. Wait a sec. My hand heats up if I walk in a certain direction. Maybe it is really sensitive to heat. I stretch out my hands again and spin around slowly to see where the most heat is. OK. A little to the right, there. Ok. I follow the heat down the corridor. It intensifies here. I walk a little further, nothing. So I walk back. Great. A dead end.

I sit on the ground and close my eyes (not that it makes much difference). Reaching into the void in my mind, I focus on using the void to sense where Steve is. BINGO! I land a punch on his arm and then grab it and fling him over my shoulder onto the ground. Thank you martial arts. The corridor lights up and Steve stands up.

"Congrates. Now follow me."

I follow Steve to a door. The door automatically opens and we walk in.

"Aria!"

I run up to her. She is covered in tons of blankets and her face is as white as a ghost.

"Ahh, what is happening to her?"

"She is posioned," says Steve in a-matter-of-fact voice.

I run up to her.

"Aria? Aria? Can you hear me? I thought she was sick," I say directing a lot of anger towards him.

"She has been dosed with something, a syphon poison I think. We don't have any cure as we have never even seen this type of poison before."

"Hang on a second, I have this."

I pull the White Whikler Plant and the liquid out of my pocket.

"I that a ......"

"White Whikler plant? Yes......" I say finishing off his question.

"You need grow this. I have a feeling that we will need it again," as I hand the steam of the plant to Steve. He hands me a bowl and walks out. Whether it was to give me some privacy or to plant the White Whikler plant I am not sure. I place the leaf in the bowl and opened the top of the bottle. Hang on, what is this? I study the writing on the inside of the lid. It's a recipe! But no time to rejoice now. I pour the liquid over the leaf and mash it together so it will be easier for Aria to eat.

"Aria? If you can hear me, I want you too eat this. It will make you better."

Aria's position doesn't change, nor does her face. She is still as pale as a ghost. Fearing that she is going to die, I lift the bowl to her lips and make the mash slide into her mouth. Aria swallows but closes her eyes. Aria?

"Aria? Aria wake up!" I yell a her. Nothing happpens. I can't hear her heartbeat anymore. Aria, please don't die..........