The Warriors, Part 2

Manny: So are you, Joel. I'm Tiffany's agent.
Joel: Really? I I didn't know
Manny: When she gets here, she needs the script.
Joel: Sure, right here.
Manny: And a spray of geraniums.
Joel: Excuse me?
Tiffany Rockler: Greetings, support staff. I'm ready to go. Is tape rolling? Good. Is this the script? I may ad lib a bit. I am Tiffany Rockler from Wildwood. I have come to encourage you all to get a copy of the very first Pause and Tales book ever, the Overcomers. How was that?
Manny: Oh, so inspiring, Miss Tiffany.
Joel: Uh, just stick to the script, please.
Tiffany Rockler: The Overcomers is a wonderful continuation of the grand story of Pause and Tales. This is better. A continuation of the original story arc. How's that?
Manny: Oh, I have chills, goosebumps.
Joel: I don't know. Story arc is too technical. Please, stick to the script.
Tiffany Rockler: To get a copy of your own, just log on to pause and tales.org. You are going to love all the adventure, the fun, and the great teaching that Pause and Tales is famous for. Wait. Manny, where are my geraniums? There are supposed to be geraniums in here.
Manny: Hold on. Hold on. Do something. Do something.
Joel: Stopping tape.
Insight for Living: Welcome to the world of Pause and Tales. Wild Mountain can be a pretty dangerous place. You stay on the trails and stick with me. There's adventures to be had there, too.
Guest (Female): Come on, CJ. Jump.
CJ: It's too far.
Guest (Female): It wasn't too far for me.
Insight for Living: Insight for Living Ministries is proud to present Pause and Tales. Last time on Pause and Tales.
Paw Paw: He's been beaten badly.
Theo: Bandits?
Guest (Male): Um, maybe uh maybe we should leave now.
Insight for Living: We're here to help. He's choking.
Theo: Around his neck there there's something choking him.
Insight for Living: It's too tight to cut off with my knife.
Theo: Oh, no. It's an amulet.
Insight for Living: What does what does that mean?
Paw Paw: Heavenly Father, we need your help. How do we free him? Help us, Lord.
Theo: Um, we really need to get out of here.
Paw Paw: It just came off. The whole thing came off by itself.
Theo: No, they don't do that.
Guest (Male): What are you talking about? How do you know anything about this?
Mendel: Thank you. My name is my name is Mendel.
Theo: Where did you get that amulet? What terrible thing did you do?
Paw Paw: Mendel, what are you doing?
Mendel: He's right. I came from Frontera with my friends. We were on a mission from my master, the one who gave me the amulet. I can't thank you enough. I would have died out here. They wanted me to die.
Theo: So what kind of friends would you dead? What is this all about?
Mendel: If I tell you, do you promise to help me anyway?
Paw Paw: Of course we will. What happened?
Mendel: My master is pure evil. He hates everyone in Wildwood with a passion. He made me promise to carry a small barrel of poison and pour it into the Salmon River just before it flows into town.
Theo: That's our water source. We all drink from that water.
Mendel: I know. It was going to kill many people and the rest, well, they were going to wish they were dead. I couldn't do it. I snuck off last night and hid it, buried it so no one could find it. I just couldn't do it. So they beat me nearly to death. After they left me in the dirt, the the amulet began to get tighter and tighter, slowly killing me inches at a time. That was my punishment for disobeying my master.
Paw Paw: Why would he want to poison the whole town? Why?
Mendel: He wanted to kill the one.
Paw Paw: The one.
Mendel: We don't know who he is. So my master wanted to try to kill him by killing most of the town.
Theo: Insanity. This is insane.
Paw Paw: Okay, Mendel. Stop. Just rest.
Theo: You seem to know more about all this than I do. What's going on out there?
Paw Paw: There's an awful lot to tell, but to make it short, there's a place called Shadow Valley.
Theo: I've heard the stories since I was a kid, but no one believes they're true. Thousands of people trapped there. It's the stuff of campfire stories.
Paw Paw: I heard them, too, as a kid. Then I found myself trapped in there. It is sadly, terrifyingly, all too real.
Mendel: Oh, once the prisoners are captured and transported into Shadow Valley, what happens to them?
The Master: The longer they stay in the valley, the weaker their will becomes. They lose hope, and when that is completely drained from them, they will believe any lie I tell them. When I have given permission to release them, they will swarm like locusts over these mountains, destroying, devouring everything in their path. When it is all done, I will have a kingdom of fire.
Mendel: I escaped Shadow Valley only by a miracle. I can't find it again, though I've tried. If I did get in again, I have no confidence that I could find my way out. There is a rumor, a prophecy, that the one will release them, save them from this terrible curse if they are released before the swarm.
Theo: Then they can wander back to their homes and families. I heard that in third grade. So you're telling me now it's all true? It all real?
Mendel: I am.
The Master: We've been building an army for years, sending them in every direction to find the one. We have been thwarted every time and in every way. There were powerful forces protecting them. They are called the Warriors. This is no band of stragglers. These warriors wield power that is unimaginable. They seem to know where we all are and often where we're going. They protect Wildwood and circle it so that only a rare few can enter. Yes, I am one of these few.
The Master: I am recruiting only those who will not fail me in battle with the Warriors, and anyone else in my way. I will grant those whom I choose great power. I am looking for a few who will never stop until victory is ours. The taking of this mountain will only be the beginning.
The Master: But Minion, I will find this one that stands in your way. I will do whatever it takes. If I have to burn this mountain to ashes, I will. I will find the one and bring him to the end. I promise you.
Paw Paw: All the wicked people and evil things in these mountains desperately want to find the one and kill him. Stop him if they can't kill him. They'll do anything to keep him from releasing the prisoners. The biggest problem for them is that they don't know who he is. So they keep looking, trying anything. Clearly, they would happily poison most of the town to kill him by chance if they can. They'll keep searching. It's been going on for decades that I know of.
Theo: Well, it's you, right? It's got to be you.
Paw Paw: It's not me. In many ways I wish it were. It make things much simpler, but it's not me. Here, hold these together.
Theo: Keep going.
Paw Paw: I've had my run-ins with this kind of evil many times in the past, not for a long time now. Something seems to have changed. They seem stronger now. Makes me nervous.
Tiffany Rockler: You found a dagger? On a bejeweled belt?
Staci: You found a beautiful bejeweled belt with a dagger on it. Oh, let me see it. Let me see.
Goose: Dagger with a belt. Dagger, and with it a belt.
Staci: Belt with a dagger. Oh, I love it. Bejeweled.
Goose: Look. Bejeweled.
Tiffany Rockler: Oh, girls, that looks priceless. Put that back.
Guest (Female): It's fine. They're always very careful with those things. That is a very interesting piece, though.
Guest (Female): Wow, Stace. You look so good and powerful in that. Looks like it was made for you.
Theo: What does this all mean, and what role am I going to have in it?
Paw Paw: Theo, I'm pretty sure the one is CJ.
Charlotte: Hi, I'm Charlotte from Virginia. Don't go away. There's more Pause and Tales coming right up.
Tiffany Rockler: Hello, lovely listeners. Tiffany Rockler from Pause and Tales here to tell you all about the very new and very fashionable t-shirts now on sale in our store. We have a wonderful Tiffany Rockler shirt with a lovely detail.
Theo: Tiffany, that is not true.
Tiffany Rockler: Ned, what are you talking about?
Theo: Well, we have no goose t-shirts and Ned t-shirts. Just go online to pause and tales.org to see them.
Tiffany Rockler: Wait. We have no Tiffany t-shirts?
Theo: Probably. Here it comes. Bye, everybody. You all will rue the day.
Guest (Female): Lunch was delightful, Daisy.
Tiffany Rockler: I'm glad you enjoyed it. Girls, please rinse off the china and the crystal ware. I'll finish it up later.
Guest (Female): Yes, ma'am.
Guest (Female): I just love eating off of china. It makes me feel so fancy.
Guest (Female): You have done some real magic getting the girls to be so responsible and polite.
Guest (Female): Well, I'm like a favorite aunt. I can ask things of them, and if I tell them that it's fun, they tend to believe me.
Goose: Whoa, what look. Nothing going on here. You can believe me that no very nice china almost hit the floor. No sorry, Bob.
Guest (Female): Get back in the kitchen, Goose.
Goose: Everything is zippy skippy and well under control. If you thought it wasn't before.
Staci: Goose, ah, coming.
The Master: They still have a way to go.
Guest (Female): Daisy, you were telling me about your little prayer group.
Guest (Female): Yes. I guess we got distracted a bit. A few of us gather weekly to study some and to pray a lot.
Guest (Female): How lovely. I would be so pleased to join you. I pray on my own, but there does seem to be something powerful when several gather for prayer.
Guest (Female): I couldn't agree more. We pray for protection of the children and the town, that evil will be held back from our town. I know it's silly, but sometime back, a bit as a joke, someone started calling us well, we call ourselves the Warriors.
Theo: Well, as Minion continued the plan on just how they could find the one, the raggiest wolf you ever did see came running into the cave. He had been running for a very very long time.
Mendel: Mendel, my Lord.
The Master: Slick, how did you know I predicted the year of the death of Mendel Rockler?
Mendel: He didn't do it.
The Master: What?
Mendel: He betrayed you. He didn't poison the creek, and he hid the barrel somewhere. We couldn't find it. The attack didn't happen. Wildwood is safe.
The Master: How could you betray me? The amulet will finish him off soon enough. Who did I charge with finding the Warriors? This smell of their work.
Mendel: Um, your servants, you gave those orders to Mendel. He was supposed to find them. You you're going to want to step back a bit and oh, yeah, cover your ears. Please, your servants, there's a just a smidge of