Forlot - Books 7-9

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"Caleb! Nooooooo!"

Without examining him further, I rushed to his body's side and wrapped my arms around him. I slowly and carefully set his head on my chest and was in tears.

"How could you?!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. It was directly towards Grand Mar and his citizens. "How could you? He was no harm..."

You readers and I expected that Grand Mar would realize the error of his ways and apologize and attempt to make things right.

But no. He burst out laughing and slapped his knee.

Tabceo was with me all the way. "Why are you laughing?!" she demanded an answer from him. "You killed a friend of the princess! Our friend!"

Grand Mar soon stopped with the laughs and wiped a tear that was on his cheek.

"My apologies," he said. "I was not laughing that he was dead. How can I when we did not kill him in the first place?"

I looked at him with confusion. "What are you talking about? You just said a minute ago that you and your followers murdered him."

"Oh, please. We do no such thing. For the most part, we are peaceful creatures and only kill outsiders if we learn that they are a threat."

"So...are you saying that Caleb is not dead?" Tabceo asked.

"Correct! As a matter of fact, that is not his body that you are holding. It is a bag filled with those white things that you find in boxes."

"What?" I turned back to "Caleb" - and realized that he was right. "Ah!" I scooted away and quickly stood.

Even though that it was a bag that had smaller bags for arms and legs, the face that was drawn on seemed so...lifelike. It totally gave me the chills.

"Where is Caleb?" I asked Grand Mar.

"He is safely back at the village. He is with my granddaughters, Ally and Mally. I will take you and your bird friend to him."

Wanting to see how Caleb was holding up and not having any other choice, Tabceo and I followed Grand Mar and the others. We remained in the woods, passing trees and bushes, for about ten minutes before reaching an opening.

"We are home," Grand Mar announced.

We came out of the woods and into the light. Blue light from the sky and shining down on the small houses.

I have to say that the village was pretty interesting. It was quite small, and unlike the houses and castle back in the kingdom that are made of stone, all of the houses were made from wood and old leaves. The wood was the base of the house, and the leaves were acting as the roof.

"This is amazing!" I complimented. "So different."

"Thanks," one of the citizens behind me thanked. "You will not believe how long it took us to build all our houses."

"Try us," Tabceo insisted. "I am guessing...a month."

"Wrong. It was three years."

"Wow," I said. "Hope that it was worth it."

"It definitely was." We walked down the hill to the village. "And we kind of had to."

"Really? Why?"

"This patch of land and the woods surrounding it...was not our first home."

"Where was your first home?"

"In the kingdom."

I was a bit surprised. "Which one?"

"You and your family's kingdom. The only one in Forlot."

"Dang. I had no clue that you guys were there. Then again, I lived in the woods with a bunch of talking wolves for years."

Grand Mar motioned to me and Tabceo. "Come with me. The rest of you can take a break."

When we entered the village, Grand Mar, Tabceo, and I separated from the others. We passed house after house until we came upon a much bigger house. It was made from the same materials.

"This is where my granddaughters and I live," Grand Mar explained to us. "There is also a guest room that you two can sleep in for the night."

"Thank you," I said.

"And in the morning, Maria and I can continue our journey back to Maria's kingdom," Tabceo added.

We were only inches from the front door, when Grand Mar stopped in his tracks and forced us to do the same. He spun around and frowned.

"I hate to be the giver of bad news...but you two can never go home."

"What? Why not?" I wondered. "I need to see Grand Wolf and his wolves. They are my true family."

"I know. Grand Wolf told me."

"He...he did?"

"Yes. He and I are good friends. We would hang out with each other from time to time. Not anymore."

"Why is that?" the bird asked.

"Why we became friends?"

"No. Why did you stop seeing each other?"

"Well...you see...Grand Wolf contacted me and told me that...he and his tribe were captured."

I gasped and pressed my hands to my cheeks. "Captured? Who...?"

"Your family, your mother and father, are the ones who are keeping them in cages as we speak."

I became furious as he stated that. I could not believe my parents! Actually, I could. They must be holding them as prisoners so that I would have no choice but to live with them and allow them to raise me.

Nope! That was not going to happen!

"We have to save them!" I proclaimed. "The Wolflets do not deserve this! Not even...Triste."

"Ah, yes. Triste," Grand Mar said. "I have met that innocent wolf. How much he cares for you, Maria. How far he is willing to sacrifice himself for you. Which is why...you should know."

"Know what? Is it about Triste?"

He slowly nodded his head. "Triste promised your parents that if they would let the Wolflets go and allow you to be with the wolves for the rest of your life...they could kill him and hang him in their display case."