Read Online The Ancient Lands: Warrior Quest, Search for the Ifa Scepter by Jason McCammon - Free Book Online

Bomani
said. He reached into his pouch and grabbed two fire rocks, and
then he paused. “Hey, can you start a fire with your staff?”
    “What do you mean?” asked Farra.
    “You know, magic stuff.”
    “No, I can’t make fire. My powers still have
yet to grow. Even then, I don’t think I will ever be able to make
fire.”
    “Humph, some sorcerer you are. I thought
maybe you might be of some use.”
    “Hey, I helped you make that pile didn’t I?
Without me, it would have taken you twice as long. Meanie!”
    “I suppose.”
    “Well aren’t those guards from Ufalme? Why
do we need to hide from them? They are on our side, aren’t
they?”
    “Yes,” Bomani replied. “But moving into The
Forbidden Expanse isn’t normal. They will want to know what we are
doing and why. It’s just better if we can get by them without them
knowing. I don’t want where I’m going to get back to my
father.”
    Bomani began to strike the rocks until a
nice spark ignited the dry grass.
    “Okay, now we run to the mountain side and
wait for the guards to come out and take a look,” he instructed
Farra.
    Being the son of the King, Bomani knew a lot
about the inner workings of his Father's army. He knew about the
towers at the border and how they each used one-to-three torches to
communicate levels of suspected danger. He knew of the barracks
nearby that not only housed soldiers, but also a large stable to
where they trained their war-rhinos and battle-elephants.
    As long as only one torch went up in the
towers he knew concerns were at a low level and the neither
soldiers at the barracks nor the beasts of war would come into
play. And a little smoke on the friendly side of the border
shouldn’t arise too much of a threat, he hoped.
    They ran southeastward toward the foothills
of the Edge Mountains, and waited. The fire grew, and so did the
smoke. The wind was calm leaving the smoke to clump together,
painting the sky with an easily visible trail of black.
    Bomani’s scheme worked just as he had
planned. A torch went up in one tower, then all the rest. They
waited until they could see the guards climbing down from the tower
and run off to investigate. Then, Bomani and Farra hurried along
the mountainside as fast as they could. Bomani kept watching to see
if another torch went up or if they were being followed.
    “Hurry!” he said, “Before we are
noticed!”
    They ran as fast as their eight feet —
(including Pupa’s four) could carry them. Once out of the view of
the guards, they took a moment to catch their breath.
    “Oh my goodness!” Farra shouted,
suddenly.
    Bomani was quick to respond. “Are they
coming?”
    “A twilka tree!”
    “A twilka tree?”
    “Yes, yes, and its got twilka berries!”
    “Farra, you can’t just yell out like that. I
thought something was wrong.”
    “Oh, but there is. I don’t know much about
the Forbidden Expanse, but I do know that you won’t find many
twilka trees.”
    “So?”
    “So, we’d better stock up!” She ran over to
the tree. Twilka trees are thick with rows of vines twisting around
them. Their branches grow outward and then down, and they bear
twilka fruit. The twilka fruit grew from the trees in bunches and
grew in a variation of colors and flavors. Then, each berry had a
different color swirled into it, which moved across the surface
when shaken.
    Farra grabbed at the berries eagerly, taking
handfuls of the stuff shoving as much as she could into her mouth,
with no regard to the juices that spilled from the fruit onto her
mouth and hands. She closed her eyes and savored the delicious
berries as sensations of fruity, tangy, and sweet shifted across
her tongue —she was in twilka heaven. She drifted back into reality
only to find Bomani looking at her in amazement.
    “What?” she asked. Her mouth was still half
full, “You don’t like twilka berries? I never met a person that
didn’t like twilka berries.”
    “No, I like them fine. I just don’t think
that I like