Within the Pages

Chapter 38

Chapter 38

"Relax Charlie. I just want to cut off the collar. It cancels out your powers." The guy with the sword pointed at my throat says.

I still shrink away from him. The other guards go to hold me, despite my struggles these are tough guys.

"If I wanted to kill you I could have done it a lot closer and without pretending to be on your side so just relax and stop moving." He says with annoyance clear in his voice.

I guess that kind of makes sense. I'll stop struggling for now. Watching silently and super still as the sword slowly gets closer and closer to my throat is one of the scariest things I have experienced. The sword gets to the collar. With one hand on the collar and the other on the sword, he tries to do a sawing method, slowly bringing the sword back and forth along the collar, trying to cut it.

After what seems like forever, he stops. "This isn't working. The collar must be enchanted somehow to only be able to come off with the key." He lowers his gaze. "I'm sorry Charlie." Raising his head again he continues. "Now go. Find your other friends. When the time is right we will have your back against the witches. The other soldiers are too frightened. To be truthful so am I. I just saw the wizard get taken down by the witches."

"The wizard? Is he ok?" Worry strikes my face. Please say he is, please say he is.

"The witches captured him and put him in their dungeon. Other than that I don't know about him." He looks all around him. "Now you have to go and find your friends. We will try our best to free your dog. And this is highly unlikely but we might be able to get the key too. We'll try at least. Now go!"

I take off running farther into the trees, only turning back once to see the soldiers beating each other up to make it seem like I fought them to get away, I would assume.

I stop after about one minute. I've never been the most active guy. Damn do I wish I had my powers now. I remember watching those movies where there are those guys who can't run for very long and fall over. I feel like one of those guys right now. I'm so out of breath and yet I know I have to keep moving.

My walking seems dreadfully slow. Every few seconds I turn my head to see if anyone is watching me. Fear strikes me deep inside. What if I find more of those soldiers. What happened to my other friends. Did Lancelot make it? He must have. He's in the other books. But yet two of myself was in this book at the same time. There's so many versions of the same story. Maybe there is a version without Lancelot.

No no no. Stop thinking like this Charlie. I'm sure Lancelot is find. That guy is built like a truck. If anyone could take such torture, he can.

Rustling of trees to my right disrupt me from my thoughts. I look all around me rapidly looking for a place to hid but there is nothing to hid me. I don't even have a weapon to fight if it is soldiers. Maybe I could take them without a weapon or powers. Ha nah.

The rustling get's closer. My nervousness gets larger and larger as glowing red eyes peak out at me from the cluster of trees.

"Charlie?" A deep familiar voice questions from the two glowing red eyes. "Oh it is you Charlie!" The voice says as my friend, the lion jumps out from the trees and rushes up to me, rubbing his head into my chest. I have no idea why some animals do that. Kind of weird to me but whatever. Milliseconds later I see the rest of my friends walk out from the trees. Goldilocks looks radiant with her bright golden hair. They don't have hair dye in this world, do they? The scarecrow doesn't seem too happy or too disappointed. Kind of in the middle considering I never actually spoke to him. The last of them to walk out of the trees is Dorothy. The words don't even come to my mind to describe the way I feel when I look at her precious face walking toward me with a smile on her face.

My memory flickers to the kiss on the cheek I got from Dorothy the other day and a smile lights up my face too. Glad I'm not drooling instead.

"CHARLIEEEE!", both Goldilocks and Dorothy yell at the same time, running toward me. I fall over onto the ground as both of them run at me together jumping at me to hug me.

"Quiet!" I whisper harshly to everyone. As much as I am glad to see them, soldiers could be close by looking for us. "I just escaped from the soldiers so we need to be quiet." I explain to them in a hushed voice.

"Don't be so worried. We have your magic to protect us." Dorothy says grinning, a smile wide as can be.

I look down with shame. "I don't have my magic anymore." Pointing to the white collar still around my neck, I continue. "This collar prevents me from using magic. It is unbreakable and as far as I know, there is only one key to open it, and that's around the leader's neck."

As expected, Dorothy's smile fades away. "Is there any way to get that key back?" That's when realization comes across her face and she looks desperately around. "Where's Toto!!?"

Looking down, I answer back, as much as I would like to avoid answering. "When I escaped, it was because some soldiers let me go. They said they would try their best to release Toto and get the key to this collar." Well at least she doesn't look as crushed as she was. "I guess they are just afraid of the which. And they also confirmed that my father is ok." That's when the picture of Lancelot lying on the ground enters my mind again and I shudder.

"What else is wrong Charlie?" Goldilocks asks, noticing the shudder.

"Lancelot. Is he ok?" I fear the answer.

"I..I..I don't know. Was he not with you?" I see a tear in the corner of her eye.

"No. He was pushed under the door of the house when the door broke open. Did you guys not go back to the house?"

"We didn't want to risk it." The lion answers for her. I have to think of a proper name for that lion. "There were so many soldiers out there that I didn't want these ones to get hurt."

"Fair enough. But we have to get back to the house now. Lancelot might be....hurt." I don't really want to think about if he is alive or not and I don't want to upset the others just in case he is ok. I also need to go get my books.

"Ok let's go then. Everyone climb on my back" The lion says. We get on his back and ride away towards the house...I hope. All I see are trees.