Bartholomew Nelson and the World of Zathya: The Prince and The Heir

Chapter 9

Bart gathered himself as he forced his way out from beneath all the wreckage. How he survived the blast, he wasn't sure but he was definitely thankful. As he looked up he noticed that the moon was shining extra bright. That's when it hit him: he had been blasted outside! He started to panic and look around for Charlotte. She was nowhere to be found and he was starting to worry. He stood up finally and then he noticed that he wasn't outside at all. Whatever happened to cause that explosion had blown a chunk of the house right off.

"You've got to be kidding me," he said aloud as he stumbled about. He could hear mini explosions and cracks and pops as he made his way back into the house. "Char!" he screamed but to no avail. His eyes were finally starting to clear up when he got a glimpse of Charlotte just trying to get to her feet in the middle of the destruction in the room with the portrait. It was interesting to see what once was a huge room destroyed. The huge wall with the windows was gone and half the wall where the portrait stayed was missing. "Who could've done all this," Bart said to himself. He prepared to run over to help Charlotte but then, unexpectedly, he felt a large push against his chest and he was once again air born. His landing was not graceful as he plummeted into another wall and through it. The pain wasn't nearly as severe as his knee injury a month ago but he would still feel this one in the morning. When he looked up, he saw Baron walking towards him with a huge smile on his face and a huge axe on his shoulders.

"It probably would've been smart to run before I found you, boy," he hollered as he stepped over some debris. Bart looked past him and saw Charlotte finally standing but it was clear she didn't see him or the big monster of a man headed towards him. He figured that would be better anyway because if Baron saw her, he wouldn't spare her. They were only after Bart and assuming that was the case, he knew that everyone else was expendable. "It matters not," the brute continued. "Either way we would have found you. But I respect you for wanting to fight. Your courage could've been useful I'm sure." Bart didn't know what to do. His training hadn't been extensive enough for him to face this difficult of an opponent. "Your friends have their hands full with my brother so they won't be able to save you if that's what you're thinking." Bart started to panic. That was exactly what he was thinking and if this guy knew this, then he was in his mind. That meant Bart didn't stand a chance.

"Dad!" Charlotte yelled. Bart could hear the fear in her voice. "Bart?" Charlotte's voice was soft but Bart heard it again. He struggled to his feet and saw her looking directly at him.

"And who might this be?" Baron asked as he turned slowly to look at his next unsuspecting victim. "Ah the girl from that night a month ago," he continued. "You are beautiful just like your mother." Charlottes face dropped and drained of all color. Bart instantly knew she wouldn't be in the right mind to defend herself, not to mention they never learned anything about defense.

"Charlotte run," Bart screamed but Charlotte didn't even budge. Bart knew Baron wouldn't spare her and when Baron started to walk towards her Bart couldn't watch anymore. He jumped through the hole and the wall and raised both hands. He thought wind and almost instantly he felt the wind from behind him surging through his body and then out in front of him. This time the weight was significantly easier to handle and he felt like he could do anything with it. This extra month of training had really done its job. The wind picked up speed as Bart thought about speed and then, it crashed into the back of Baron sending him flying over Charlotte and through the portrait on the wall. Bart was stunned. He dropped his hands and stared at the hole Baron's huge body just made in the wall. Had that really been him that did this? He couldn't believe it. He looked behind him to see if Victoria was standing there but there was no one. It must've been me he thought to himself. There wasn't any time to take pleasure in his success, he was sure that strike didn't kill Baron and he knew Baron would be extremely unforgiving. He rushed to Charlotte and grabbed her.

"We have to go," he shouted and tried to pull her but she nearly tripped over her own feet. "Charlotte we have to get out of here, NOW!" Charlotte just kept staring at the ground. Bart knew why she was out of it. Charlotte had never met her mom. It wasn't until recently that she knew her mom might be alive. Now this huge guy primed to kill Charlotte was discussing how he knew her mom and that Charlotte looked just like her. Bart could sympathize with her. Her whole world was just turned upside down and in any other circumstance Bart would have left her to her thoughts. But doing that meant she would die. No more thoughts after that. So Bart had to snap her out of it somehow. "Char, look, I know this is a lot to take in, remember I was there in this same place. But what did you tell me? We can do this remember? We never back down from a challenge. This is just another challenge. We have to run Char." She picked her head up and looked at Bart. The tears were streaming down her face but she paused, collected herself, and then shook her head in agreement. Bart didn't waste any time. They turned and sprinted for the hole that Bart went through. I need to stop being flung in the air like a cheap toy, he thought to himself as he helped Charlotte through the hole.

"Lucky shot boy!" Bart froze as the words caught up to him. When he turned he saw Baron standing in the other room with the look of anger all over his face. "Sneaky aren't we? Attacking from behind? Well I guess no one ever taught you manners. Allow me to be the first." Bart knew it was over. He had a good run but there was no way he could muster up the strength to do that again. He prepared to strike when suddenly Victoria came rushing in between him. She looked at him and Bart noticed her face was pretty beat up. Her eyes spoke for her and she didn't have to even speak to Bart, telepathically or out loud, he knew what to do. He turned and jumped through the hole and grabbed Charlotte's hand and started sprinting. Not once did he look back, even with the sounds of the battle going on behind him. The two of them didn't stop running until they had crossed over most of the town and made their way all the way to the park across from the woods where they had to go. That's when they finally stopped to rest and took a seat on the park benches.

Without delay, Charlotte put her face into her hands and started crying. Bart didn't know how to comfort her so he put one arm around her and just sat there with her. She cried and cried for a long time; maybe ten minutes before Bart realized they needed to keep going. He felt terrible for even thinking about asking her to keep running but he knew they didn't have a choice. He would've wanted to sit there and cry too if it was him in her shoes. Bart started to get angry at everyone again. How could they keep this secret from him? How could they keep this from Charlotte? What did they think would happen if these people came looking? It wasn't fair and now Bart and Charlotte were on their own headed to a world they have never known, being chased by giant axe murderers, literally. Charlotte had no idea where her dad was and Bart didn't know what happened after they left. How were they supposed to handle this? Bart's anger turned into fuel and motivation. He stood up and faced Charlotte.

"Char we should probably keep moving," he said. "I know you're upset, but there isn't much of a choice left for us." Charlotte wiped her eyes and looked at Bart. It wasn't sadness that he saw. It was rage. She looked angrier than Bart had ever seen her, including the time where he crashed her new motor scooter when she let him ride it. She was angry then, but the look on her face right now made that time look like she was ecstatic.

"We have to see this through, Bart," she said with genuine rage in her voice. "I want to see this all the way through. I don't know if that guy knows my mom or if my mom is even still alive, but I want the chance to ask him!" Bart didn't know if he was more afraid of this Charlotte or excited about her newfound fury, but he did know he agreed with her. Just training and then leaving was no longer an option. These people had caused too much damage, and Bart wanted to be sure they paid for it. And now, so did Charlotte.

"I'm with you 100%," Bart said.

"And I need to find out what happened to my dad," she said. Bart looked down. "I didn't see what happened to him when we got separated. If he is alive, we have to find him and the others." Bart expected Charlotte to be more broken emotionally, but she seemed to be motivated more than anything else.

"Then what are we waiting for," Bart said confidently. Charlotte stood and then the two friends plunged into the forest and into a new life.