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

Chapter 19

Bart's eyes opened to see nothing but darkness. Clearly the bag was still over his head. His feet weren't on the ground but his arms were still tied behind his back. Whoever was carrying him wasn't being too careful, because with every step Bart felt their shoulder in his gut. They walked for a while, and then finally stopped and Bart was dropped on his butt and then his feet were tied. He heard footsteps walking away and then silence. He sat there quiet for some time wondering what was going on. A couple times he called Charlotte's name but he received no response. He tried to wield the wind to help cut his binds, but to no avail.

"This sucks," he said aloud. He had no idea where he was or what was going on, all he knew was that he couldn't see and he had no idea where Charlotte was. That's when it hit him. Maybe this is why being connected to your aura is so valuable. He remembered how drastically the quality of all his senses increased when he connected originally. He figured that if he could focus maybe he would be able to hear something. After getting as comfortable as he could, he began to focus entirely on his hearing. It was at this point that the feeling of the vines vanished and his tongue went numb. However, his hearing increased significantly. Bart could hear the owls hooting and people talking. The problem was he didn't understand the language. From what he could hear they were speaking Spanish. This shocked Bart because he didn't know that Zathya was so diverse. Then he remembered that Jason told him Camathlion took humans who deserved to come and that could mean humans of any ethnic background. Bart listened for a while without hearing anything he could understand. Eventually he gave up on listening and decided to try a different sense. His other senses didn't return for a very long time, which worried Bart a little, but they too finally returned. When they did he focused on his sense of smell. Almost immediately sharp scents started flowing into Bart's nostrils. He was sure he smelled what he thought to be potatoes and some sort of beef. There was a sharp aroma of flowers that was nearly unbearable and he was positive he could smell a mixture of wet grass and pie, a combination that he had never smelled before. The abnormal assortment of odors was to overwhelming for him and he let go of his focus. Eventually he fell asleep with the bag over his head with no better idea of where he might be.

When he awoke this time he heard talking very close to him without even increasing his hearing ability. The voices were both female. Bart sat up and noticed they were still speaking Spanish. Then he heard a voice that gave him hope.

"Bart!" screamed Charlotte. Her tone was more excited than worried which confused him.

"Char?" he yelled looking from left to right but it was pointless since the bag was still on his head. "Where are you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, her voice closer than it was before. "Let him loose," she said with an angry tone. Within seconds the hood was lifted and the vines were cut. The sudden entrance of sunlight back into Bart's life was nearly devastating as he shielded his eyes from the beaming rays of daylight. His shoulders and wrists hurt from the tight vines and the awkward position of his arms for such an extended period of time.

"What's going on?" he asked as his eyes readjusted to the radiance. He looked at Charlotte, who was wearing a weird outfit that Bart was 100% sure she wasn't wearing when they arrived here. She had on a green top with a long green dress made of leaves and vines. In her hair was a brown flower. She looked beautiful and clean, which had Bart mystified. She was smiling at him when she knelt down in front of him. He looked around and saw the two girls standing there and behind Charlotte, some guy who couldn't have been older than eighteen, was looking on.

"You've been asleep for about a week," Charlotte said. "They said you would only be asleep for a couple days, but I think someone gave you too much of the herbs." Bart was more confused than ever before only because Charlotte was talking like she was a part of them and knew what was going on. He leaned in closer to her so that he could whisper.