Chapter 25 Chapter Twenty-Four

Again, that horrible, squeezed feeling came back.Air was forced from my lungs and my body was compressed as if a mouse were trying to squeeze through a small hole.After somersaulting, my flying pains came to an abrupt end.I rolled down a rocky slope and hit a stone wall hard. For a moment, I just lay there, dazed, gasping for breath like a fish thrown ashore, feeling bruises and cuts all over my body.Fear of dragons forced me to open my eyes, ready to do my little to protect Alisa. I looked around and blinked. The dragon was gone, Duke Sis was gone, and Saryon was gone.Sheila was still there, and Mosiah and Alisa.We're in a cave, that's the cave.The smell is the same here.The ground is covered with scattered bones and various garbage.Alisa stood in the middle of the cave, holding the Dark Sword.

She dropped the sword in her hand, ran towards me, and bent down to look at me. "Reuven! What a horrible fall! Are you okay?" am i okayNo, I'm not good. Alisa no longer wore the blue velvet riding suit, nor the shining gold crown in her hair.She was wearing a plain wool dress and blouse, just as we had when we first met on this strange trip of mine. I struggled to my feet, trying to pull up my tripping robes.But I wasn't wearing a robe, I was wearing jeans and a blue sweater. "Sheila! Quick! He's hurt!" cried Alisa. Sheila was in military uniform, and her earrings shimmered with stars.She knelt down, stretched out her hand to brush the messy hair on my forehead, and looked at my situation.

"The wound is not deep, and the bleeding is gone. Maybe he will have a headache for a while, but there will be no sequelae." Alisa took out a handkerchief (a plain white one) and began to wipe the wound on my forehead. Angrily, I blocked her hand, stood up, leaned my back against the stone wall, and stared at the two women in front of me.They also looked at me in astonishment.Is this a dream?Hallucination?If so, this must be the most realistic dream I have ever experienced, unbelievably real. "What's going on?" Mosiah asked, coming up to us. "Reuven tripped over a rock and hit his head," Alisa said. "Sheila said his injury wasn't serious. But he kept looking at me like that, like I was going to tear him apart. Dragon!"

"And you," Sheila said to Mosiah, "where have you been?" "I don't know," said Mosiah stiffly, "where have I been?" "Damn it, how would I know?" Sheila looked even more confused. "What happened? Did you hit your head too?" Mosiah suddenly sullen, and said thoughtfully: "Yes, I think so too." Mosiah knows what happened to me just now!He's there too, wherever that is!I felt relaxed for a while, leaned against the cave wall, and began to try my best to organize my thoughts.My head was filled with all sorts of messy thoughts that prevented me from thinking clearly.But at least I know, I'm not crazy.I wanted to ask Mosiah all the thousand questions in my head, but Mosiah made an obvious gesture to me.

"Don't say anything, not yet," he warned me. "Okay," Sheila said, dusting my clothes.Her strength almost knocked me to the ground again. "You look better." Alisa leaned over and picked up the Dark Sword.Suddenly I saw a terrifying sight - a black dragon, claws red with blood, knocking the Dark Sword from her hand.She fell to the ground.The claws tore her body apart, and she screamed... The vision was gone, but the terror had not.Sweat drenched my skin.In the cold deep cave, I was shivering. "Do you know that we are standing in a dragon's lair," said Mosiah sharply.

"Sheila already told me." Alisa shrugged.She was just worried about her father and was not interested in anything else. "Just an old dragon's lair," Sheila said. "There is no need to be afraid. When the Well of Life was destroyed, all dragons disappeared." "But the smell here is not stale." Mosiah frowned. "Why is the Dark Sword here? I threw it into the city gate..." "And almost skewered me," came a mournful voice from the corner. "Skewer Bear, Teddy Skewer. It's your luck that I'm here. If it wasn't for me, those silver morons would have snatched it up. As for the hole, it's like a Tupperware sealed box, Sealed away the stench of centuries."

Sheila scanned the cave with a flashlight to find the source of the sound. "Teddy!" Alisa exclaimed happily. The teddy bear sat on top of a stalagmite. "I thought you'd never get here." It said angrily. "Where did you go? I think it was a picnic. Did you go to Disney? I waited and waited. I don't mind telling you , it's terribly boring here." Alisa walked up to Teddy with the Dark Sword, bent down and picked it up. Teddy's black button eyes flashed with panic, and his body shook as if trying to break free from Alisa's hand. "Don't let that ugly thing come near me!"

"The Dark Sword?" Alisa asked, and immediately said, "Oh, of course, I understand." "I don't understand," said Mosiah sternly, "the dark sword would destroy his magic. He can't get near the sword. Then why does he say he brought the sword here!" "As long as I want to do it. And you are only entitled to be confused by me." Simkin snorted, "And I never said that I brought it here. You know, I still have friends in this world. There are people who appreciate me, and my dear friend Merlin is one of them." "Merlin, of course." Mosiah pouted, "Is Coffin Smither the other one?"

"Sticks and stones can break my bones, but dark swords can never hurt me." Teddy grinned. "What does it matter how the Dark Sword got here?" Alisa asked impatiently. "We've got it now. We have to find my parents, and Father Saryon." I just looked at Mosiah in surprise. "Your father, Joram," asked Mosiah, "is he still alive?" "Of course he lives!" cried Alisa, and she repeated emphatically, "Of course he lives." "Oh, yes, Joram is still alive, that's all right." Little Bear said listlessly, "It's just that he's in a bad mood. You can't blame him, after all, he's locked in a cell, and only the old bald man is with him."

Alisa held the Dark Sword tightly, her knuckles turned white. "Did you find him? Is he safe?" "He's doing well now, like the Duchess of Orleans when she told how she found her husband hanging on the knocker. He's still conscious and eating. I'm talking about your father, not the Duke. We Can't do anything for him anymore, except polish his head every Sunday." "Where's my mother?" "Aha, didn't see it. Mmmm. I'm sorry, but I didn't see her skin, nor her hair. She wasn't locked up with your father and that catalyst saint. That's all I can tell you .”

"You've been there," said Mosiah incredulously. "Of course." Bear replied. "Went to the Technician's prison, where they kept Saryon and Joram." "If you could just take that black hood off your head, Mosiah," said Bear sullenly, "maybe you'd be able to hear better. Didn't I say that? In fact, I just got out of there Come back, that's when you threw that damned sword at me." "Where is that prison?" "It's right there." Bear looked up in disgust. "Above us!" cried Alisa.She had been pale and despondent with no news of her mother, but now the spirit came to her cheeks again. "It's not very far from the upper floor of this cave. If you go straight up, it can be regarded as a summer stroll. But you probably have to make many detours to go up, and it will be a test for your legs." On the one hand, this news is a good thing, but on the other hand, it makes people tremble with fear.We all looked at each other in horror. "I'm looking at the hole," Sheila said. "Keep your voices down!" The warning came a little late.We didn't yell, but we didn't try to keep our voices down either.And this cave can transmit the echo very far. "Why did you bring the Darksaber here if the Technician is in the cave above us?" Mosiah asked Simkin. "Are you going to give them the sword?" "If I wanted to, I wouldn't be in this cold, smelly place with you guys, would I?" Simkin's button nose twitched twice. "I'll be comfortable in the dry room up there, where nothing but Coffin Smither's cheap cologne reeks. He's supposed to be one of the gang, but I don't know why he Make sure you let yourself smell that way." "Why did you bring the Dark Sword here?" Mosiah continued to pursue this question with great patience. "Because, my dear redneck friend, this is obviously where they least expect it! You have escaped from their grasp, and now they are planning to give the whole of Jessair to you in order to find you and this sword. Turn it over. But you don't see them coming down to search here, do you?" "He's right," Sheila admitted. "He always has a reason," Mosiah murmured. "Why didn't we see the Technician when we entered the cave? Why didn't the Technician see us?" "If you came in from the front, you could see it." "You said we came in from the back?" "I didn't see any signs with lights that said this was the front and that was the back. Do you understand? But if you want to think that, yes, you're coming in from the back." "My father is in a cell?" Alisa asked. "Is he guarded? How many guards?" "Two. As I said, everyone thought you were in Jessair..." Sheila left the hole and walked back to us. "We should go, hurry up!" "I don't trust him," Mosiah said with a cold face. "He once betrayed Joram, and caused his death—nearly caused his death," Mosiah corrected himself. "Whatever Simkin does, he does it for his own pleasure. Don't trust him, Alisa. He doesn't care about you at all, and he doesn't care about Joram, or any of us. I have no doubt that if Conifer lets him Funny, he'll wave his orange silk scarf to lure Conifer over." Alisa turned to the teddy bear, only to see that the bear's eyes were closed and it was still snoring slightly. "Simkin!" she pleaded. Bear's eyes snapped open, "What? Oh, please forgive me. I must be a little sleepy from all the talking I've just said. My cow dung friend was absolutely right about me. I'm not trustworthy. One bit Not worth it either." The black button eyes twinkled, and the black-stitched lips were pursed. "Listen to what Mosiah says, that wise Duke. I'm not to be trusted anyway. We all have ears, my friend. You know, I'll have ears if I want to. We're all in Listen. Now what are your plans for us?" Mosiah's lips tightened.But he didn't say anything.I believe he is recalling another life we ​​have lived through.In that life Duke Xis betrayed us.Simkin knew this too.I could see it in the flickering eyes of the little bear.He knows, and he's laughing at us. Alisa has made a decision. "If the Technicians are looking for us somewhere else, we shouldn't miss this chance to save my father and Saryon. We may not have another chance." "It could be a trap," Mosiah warned her, "as much as the interrogator masquerading as your mother." "Maybe," said Alisa quietly, "but even that's all right. We're running out of time." "The question is what happens in that time?" Mosiah murmured. Alisa didn't hear it.I heard it, and it gave me a chance to clear my mind. "Where's the Dark Sword?" Alisa asked. "Should we be carrying the Dark Sword?" "That's too dangerous." Sheila objected, "If they catch us, at least they won't be able to get the Dark Sword. At that time, we can at least use this as a bargaining chip to deal with them. Why don't we get the Dark Sword Just stay in this safe place?" "Just put it here and nobody cares?" Sheila took the flashlight around the cave, then turned off the flashlight. "There are stones everywhere. We can hide the sword under the stones, and raise a stone pile as a sign." Alisa put the Dark Sword on the stone ground, and then began to collect stones with Sheila and piled them on the sword.It's like I'm watching a video rewind.They gradually built a cairn that I had just seen Alisa and Father Saryon remove.This cluttered my mind even more. I hurried over to Mosiah.He just stood quietly, folded his hands, observing the scene in front of him. "Tell me what happened." I signed quickly. "Are you referring to our time-jumping trick? I don't know." Mosiah lowered his voice and said, "It seems that there is a parallel timeline outside the world we identify with, a parallel timeline. Different karma here. Over there, Joram had died twenty years ago. Whereas with us, Simkin disguised himself as Joram and 'died' at the hands of the assassins. But why did this happen? If Sheila You and Alisa exist in two different worlds, why do you and I have a common consciousness in the two worlds?" "Do you know the answer?" Mosiah shrugged, "I can guess no more than you, Reuven. But one thing I can be sure of. Conifer came in that world, and they will come in this world. Like Alisa As His Majesty said, time is running out." I asked the questions I dreaded most. "In another world, our time is over, right? We've all been killed. I know, because when I try to take another look at that other life, I can't see anything. I just feel A great and terrible anger against those who betrayed, and a painful remorse for all that was lost." "You are right," said Mosiah, "the dragon killed us all. I saw your death, I saw Alisa's death, I saw my own death approaching. But I did not see Sheila . Isn't that fun?" I waited for him to continue, but he didn't say another word. I sighed, "You think we got another chance?" "Perhaps it is so," replied Mosiah, "or there are people who take pleasure in watching our vain struggle against fate." We all looked at the bear.It was leaning against the stalagmite and appeared to be asleep.Maybe it was my imagination, I thought I saw Teddy smiling.