Jay's Adventure

Chapter 17: Welcome to the Island

When he woke up again, he felt his head, to make sure there was no damage done, and as he lifted his arm, he brushed a soft and feathery item in his neck. He felt around it, and pulled it out. Jay wasn't sure whether to be impressed they had this all the way out here, or mad at the "welcoming" to the island his friends were on. When Jay sat up, he looked around and saw he was in a room with mud bricks for walls and floor. There were bars on the windows and along the door as if it was a prison. As he got up to walk around the small cell he was in, two guards came in and told him to get up against the wall. Not wanting to receive any more damage to his head, he did as they said, and allowed them to handcuff him. They then took him and dragged him into a larger room. Jay looked around, and saw that there were many people up in the seats high above where he was. He looked in front of him, and saw a person he didn't recognize, then to the right was Taylor, to the person's left was Jonathan, and then to his left was David. Jay looked at each of them, pleading for them to help him, but they stared back, their eyes full of hatred and primal savagery. When Jay was dragged to the center of the room, he was forced into a chair and the person who he didn't know stood up and said:

"Friends. We are gathered here today, to discuss the fate of this intruder, unless he can reasonably explain why he has entered our sacred archipelago. Now, the intruder will have a chance to explain himself." With that, the person sat down and stared at Jay.

Jay stood, and opened his mouth to speak, but he was at a loss for words. Jay thought, and eventually began with "My name is Jay. I know I'm not around from here, and I did not know that I was intruding upon sacred grounds. I-" Jay was cut off.

Taylor cried out "Lies! All lies!"

"I promise, I am not lying. I left back in December to find out what one of my dreams meant. I woke up on the island across the sea from here, and I kept hearing my name. I came to the Valley of the Kings, and went through the trials. The potion room, the chess board, the monster room, the maze and finally, finding the scroll. In the maze room, I ran into Taylor, who is sitting there beside you. When I went North, I met her on the boat taking us North. When it docked at the next island, there was another boat waiting for us, and David was there. I am sorry I have trespassed upon your ground, but I had no idea my presence in this archipelago was trespassing."

There person looked at Jay with great interest, but before they could speak, Taylor spoke. "You say you had no idea you were trespassing, yet you were carrying a sword with you. Why is that?"

"I have always carried that sword with me."

"Why?"

"I've spent 9 years living in the Fangorn Forest, and in order to survive, I needed some form of protection other than hiding in the nearest bush or tree." When he finished saying that, murmuring broke out among all the people sitting above him.

The person who started the meeting stood up, and immediately spoke. "If you truly have lived in the Fangorn Forest, and have been in possession of this blade, you are our rescuer." With that, the person turned to the rest of the group and said "This meeting is adjourned. He is free to go where he wants within the archipelago."

Everyone got up to leave, and when Jay looked around, he saw the person staring right at him. He felt the guards come up behind him and started taking him away. They put a blindfold over his eyes, and dragged him somewhere else. When they finally removed the blindfold from his eyes, he was blinded by the light of the room, but eventually he got used to it, and saw he was in a house. The person who had called the meeting was standing before him. The person finally removed the mask from their face and smiled at Jay. "You know my name already, although you don't know me personally. My name is Aragorn. Taylor, David and Jonathan have told me much about you." When he said that bit, Taylor, David and Jonathan walked into the room. Jay looked at them, then turned away. "I know this may sound crazy, but when I said you are our rescuer, I truly meant it. We received a prophecy about you several years ago. Taylor was able to piece together who it was speaking of, and so we've been sending you those dreams you spoke of today."