Champion of the Light Read online

Chapter Two

  The teens rose into the air, until they couldn't feel the ground beneath them. The next second, Andrew landed with a thud on the ground, Katy beside him. The spinning came to a stop. Instead of the roar of falling water, he could only hear the loud buzzing of swarms of insects along with the occasional bird call. Giant trees surrounded him. Where was he?

  Katy scrambled to her feet. "Aaah! What's happening? Did we die? Where are we? Where's the waterfall, and the pine trees, and...."

  The change of scenery would make sense in something like the matrix, where surroundings and scenery can switched by the computers, Andrew thought. But the matrix didn't really exist.... did it?

  "Could it be that the rainbow teleported us to somewhere?" Andrew asked. "But where? And how?"

  Andrew had no idea of where he was at all. But if this was real, he somehow sensed that he was far, far, away from home. Far away from Pine Valley, New York. Maybe it was the angle of the sun, maybe it was the strange plants that surrounded him. Or perhaps it was something else entirely that he couldn't put his finger on. For all he knew, they could be on another continent entirely, and perhaps not even on Earth at all.

  Andrew felt the stirrings of fear begin to possess him.... where were they? He looked around at the forest that had sprouted up around them. It appeared to be similar to a tropical rainforest on Earth, with a heavy canopy of gigantic leaves almost completely blocking the sunlight from hitting the forest floor. The tall trees grew thick for as far as he could see in every direction.

  "Look at the colorful leaves," Andrew said. Unlike any forest that he had ever seen before, the leaves here grew in every color of the rainbow. But he still wasn't sure if it was real, or just an illusion.

  Katy craned her neck to look up at the trees. "Ooh, the leaves are gorgeous. And look at the monkeys!"

  Small, black playful creatures flitted through the branches above their heads, along with brightly colored exotic birds.

  It might be gorgeous. But looks can be dangerous and deceiving..... don't be fooled, Andrew told himself. He sensed danger, lurking just out of sight.

  So much info about the forest they were in was pouring into Andrew's brain through his eyes. He closed them, took a deep breath, and just listened. The picture in his mind changed, as a thousand noises hit his ears. Roars, screeches, singing, hissing.

  The noises of the rainforest animals blended together in a mixture of sounds that was distinctly the forest's. The animated chatter of monkeys blended with the high pitched singing of birds. The low buzzing of insects merged with the throaty grunt of the gorilla. And the distant roar of the jungle big cat combined with the soft but deadly hissing of snakes. Together, they formed the lively cacophony of sounds that was the rainforest.

  Andrew tried to listen for something even deeper. At first, all he heard was a random jumble of noises. But then a congruous image formed in his mind, as some order arose from the randomness. It sounded as though the animals were communicating with each other at this giant animal convention that was taking place here in the forest: the monkeys yelled something, the snakes answered. The birds put in their two cents, and the cats demanded to be heard. The gorilla made a speech, and the insects applauded. There was a conversation taking place here, in the language of the wild. If only he knew the translation....

  "This is unbelievable!" said Katy. Andrew snapped out of his reverie. "One second we're walking in familiar Arbori Park, the next we're in this weird rainforest. How did this happen? It's like magic! Is it real? Or is it a simulation of some sort?"

  "Yeah, unbelievable." But Andrew was getting exited, despite their predicament. This held much promise of and much potential for big, extraordinary things to come. Maybe this was the beginning of his quest for adventure, with incredible things ahead.

 

  Before he could say more, Andrew heard a low humming noise coming from his right pocket, which held The Kingdom of the Light. Did an animal climb into his pocket without him noticing?

  "What's that noise?" Katy asked.

  Andrew pulled the thin book from his pocket and held it in his hand. "Good question."

  No, it wasn't any creature that was causing the humming noise. The book itself was glowing softly and was warm in his hand, as if it were alive.

  He then watched, openmouthed, as the book changed and grew right before his very eyes.

  What was it changing into? It soon became apparent that the book was transforming into some kind of garment. Andrew stared, stunned, as the arms and then the rest of it stretched and formed out of what moments before was a lifeless, inanimate book. Was this also a part of the weird simulation they were in?

  "Wow, how did that happen?" Katy asked. "Isn't that a martial arts gi robe?"

  "Yes, it looks like one. Only with buttons that fasten with loops in place of a belt," said Andrew.

  Katy ran her finger along the robe's cuffs and hems, which were covered with intricate gold designs made of tiny curves and swirls. "Look at those exquisite patterns. Cool."

  "Nice detail," Andrew agreed. He thought it to be quite a beautiful robe, in a simple and minimalist way.

  Then, as they were admiring the newly formed robe, something long, hard, and thin fell out of it and onto the ground.

  "Ooh, more surprises," Katy gasped.

  Andrew bent down and cautiously picked the object up. In his hand was a sword in its scabbard. He drew it out. It was fashioned in the style of the deadly Japanese long curved sword, the katana. An archaic language was engraved on its shining blade. Andrew held it aloft. It gleamed brilliantly in the light. So he was given a weapon, and an interesting garment to wear here.

  "Double cool!" Katy exclaimed.

  Then Andrew tried on the robe. It fit him perfectly. "It's as if it was made for me."

  The material was light and cool, and felt very strong.

  "Look at it!" said Katy in a hushed voice. "It's as if it lives."

  Andrew stared at the magical gi robe. When he focused his gaze on it for more than a few seconds, he sensed that it shimmered faintly. It was as if it there was a brilliant light contained inside it that yearned to burst free, but was held at bay by the edges of the fabric. It was magical to look at.

  "I see what you mean," Andrew said. "The robe contains the light. Like body and soul. Incredible."

  He held out the sword with both hands. Now he was ready for an adventure. Even though he wasn't experienced with swords, having only studied judo, which didn't employ any weapons, he could tell that this sword's balance was utterly superb. A sword such as this, along with a skilled swordsman, would make a lethal team. But that didn't help calm his fear one bit. Why were they here? In fact, where was here? Was he going to need the sword? What for? And what about Katy? How would she defend herself if it came down to it, with no weapon? Why wasn't she given a weapon as well? Did whoever was pulling the strings in this strange show want her to die?

  "Katy, who do you think sent these items to us? And why? Where are we? What's happening? This is so insane! We are inexplicably transported to this strange forest, given these strange gifts...."

  "I don't know how or why they got to us, Andrew," Katy said. "But live in the now. And now we have them. That's what's important. The history of how they got to us doesn't matter so much."

  "The past will help us understand the present. If we knew how and why these gifts were sent to us, we would probably know a lot more about our situation and how to deal with it."

  Katy spotted something lying on the floor. "Hey, what's that shiny thing on the ground?" She picked it up. It was a silver paper card, about the size of a business card. "There's no name."

  Andrew took a look. It was blank aside from a picture of a rainbow emerging from a prism. What did it symbolize? "It must have fallen out of the book when it was expanding and we didn't notice."

  "So there was a card, a robe, and a sword, all contained in that little book," Kat
y said. "Maybe they have advanced technology here, wherever here is, and can transform and transport things easily."

  "Maybe." Andrew pocketed the card. "Or maybe this is all an illusion, and we never left the clearing in Arbori Park to begin with. Either way, the card might be some kind of message. Perhaps we'll meet someone who will know what it means."

  "Yeah," said Katy. "If people even exist in this world."

  Andrew breathed in the forest air deeply. It felt good. It smelled like adventure. If this was real, then he was finally on the path. Who knew where it would lead? He may be on the road towards glory, death, tranquility, honor, or something else entirely. The only way to find out what lay at the end of the road would be to live the adventure, and see it through to the end.

 

  The sun hung low over the horizon, creeping its way towards the obscurity of night. Long shadows were cast through the rainforest trees. It would soon be dark.

  "Let's find a clearing and make camp for the night," said Andrew.

  "Okay," said Katy. "Camping out in a rainforest. This should be fun!"

  The duo hiked through the trees until they found a small clearing. Andrew gathered a few dry braches from the surrounding forest and they started a fire, as the forest was cooling rapidly with the onset of night.

  "Good thing that I was once a boy scout," Andrew remarked.

  They lay near the fire, sleep eluding them. Andrew couldn't stop his many questions of 'where?' 'why?' and 'how?' from running through his head over and over again. The mystery of why they had been transported to this strange, uninhabited forest completely boggled him.

  They were thrown into the thick of the forest, by a mysterious power. How they would react, and how they would survive—or even if they would survive at all—remained to be seen.

 

  The flames of the campfire had died down somewhat when Andrew heard low growling noises. The menacing sounds were emanating from just outside the clearing.

  Katy sat up with a start. "What's that noise?"

  The teens peered out into the pitch black darkness, in an effort to locate the source of the sound.

  "Do you see those red balls?" Andrew asked.

  "Uh huh," Katy whispered.

  They could see in the darkness what appeared to be a few small, glowing, red orbs, floating a couple of feet off the ground.

  "This is strange," Katy said. "What are those things? Floating red marbles? Floating red marbles that make noises and growl?"

  A few more moments passed before..... "They're eyes," Andrew hissed. "Those little red orbs are eyes! Which belong to some exotic nocturnal creature. And eyes can only mean—"

  "—head and body attached," Katy finished.

  Judging from the amount of red orbs, a sizable group of these threatening creatures were prowling just outside the clearing.

  "Andrew, I'm scared," whispered Katy. "What if those animals are hungry? What if we are just another meal, to them?"

  "Don't worry," he murmured, taking her hand in his. "They're probably just as afraid of us as we are of them. If we don't provoke them, they won't attack."

  The growling sounds only grew louder, as more animals joined the pack already circling the clearing. Red balls paced around and around the scared teens.

  Andrew shivered, and squeezed Katy's hand. "Hopefully they aren't aggressive or dangerous. Maybe they are just here because they are attracted to our fire."

  A few more minutes of growling and snarling passed, and the creatures still hadn't made a move. Andrew felt relieved. It seemed that they wouldn't attack after all. Katy's fear gradually vanished as well, and in its place, she began to feel a little cocky. "What's the matter, ugly eyes? Scared of us? Scared of our fire? Scared that we'll kick your furry butts? C'mon, show us what you've got!"

  Just then, as if it understood her, a large, coal black beast that looked mostly like a wolf, but with some German Shepherd mixed in, came soaring clear over the campfire. It was bigger than a large Great Dane. Perhaps not as tall, but much longer, with many legs, four glowing red eyes, and a tale like a whip. Its long white fangs stood out in sharp contrast to its black face. It had a small splash of white fur on its nose and forehead.

  And the monster; claws, teeth, and all, came flying in straight at Andrew, with what could only be intent to kill.