THE DESTINED HERO: A Stranger's Chronicle.

Chapter 4. The legends are true.

Hours after Andrew Hess was gone, Marcus showed up with about eight of his men. He looked very surprised to see a cabin right there in the jungle. He had been there for many years now and never for once did he come across such a place, yet he knew every corner of the jungle.

Seeing Marcus' men, Larry, Stephanie and Toby got scared only to notice the surprise on their faces, which was not expected, so they looked one to another.

"This can be…" Marcus was unable to stop staring at the surroundings and so did his men.

With what was happening, the three teens decided to sneak away before they noticed, but that action brought Marcus' mind back to them.

"And where do you think you are going?"

"Ugh,"

They froze, unable to answer.

"I knew there was something about you all, how did you find this place?" He moved his gaze slowly across the three of them. "Two people are messing."

That statement caused them to realize that Christie and Lillie have not been found, which could be concluded that they made it into the town.

"They are not here," one of the men who checked inside the cabin for the other girls informed Marcus as he came outside again.

"Guess they made it into town." Marcus concluded because they've looked everywhere in the jungle before stumbling on this location. "Look, I know we started off on a wrong foot, but trust me when I say we mean you no harm."

Marcus spoke very reasonably this time around, and for the first time they didn't see him as someone who meant bad for them, yet they had to question his earlier action.

"If what you say is true, why did you kill our friends instead of helping them?" Stephanie maintained her sharp tongue and hatred towards him.

"They were going to die anyway, trust me, I did them a favor."

Larry got paranoid at the mention of the word 'trust', "Trust you?! You locked us up for two days, now you expect us to trust you."

"I was keeping you safe, and I know how that would sound, but let's talk about this place. Who brought you here?" Marcus changed the subject, it appears he was no longer interested in finding out who they were and where they are from.

"We found it," Larry lied.

"Don't lie to me, I know you were brought here by someone. I know every corner of this jungle and this place, never existed. So be reasonable, tell me, who brought you here?"

Larry observed a moment of silence, before answering, "he called himself master Hess."

Hearing the name Hess triggered something in him that he took a minute to look around once again and was able to spot the practice weapons lying on the ground, then he asked to be sure it was the person on his mind. "Like a tattered old man? With white hair and long beards?"

"You know him?" They asked in shock, because Andrew didn't look like someone people should know or tremble at the mention of his name.

"The legends are true." Marcus didn't know when those words came out of his mouth.

His followers were definitely amazed by his reaction, they've never seen him that way before. He was way older than the rest of them, so he knew and has seen things which they haven't.

Larry was propelled to ask what he was talking about, but from the looks on the faces of his men, he could tell that they too did not know what he was saying, and if he hadn't told them, then he would definitely not tell him too.

Everything was beginning to make little sense to him, but he still needed a better explanation from someone he could interact with.

Toby and Stephanie were also picking up on the fragments, and they figured that the departing words of Andrew Hess had something to do with the legend Marcus mentioned.

"Which way did he go? How long has he been gone?" Marcus looked in all directions with a path in the jungle.

"Ummm,"

The three of them looked around but we're unable to discern which way he took because the path had actually disappeared.

"What did he say to you?" Marcus asked again since they were unable to answer the previous question just as he had expected.

"Nothing that we could understand." Toby answered.

"You should come back to the camp with us, we have a lot to discuss. Please." He pleaded knowing they might disapprove and he didn't want to force them like before.

*****

Getting close to the base, Frank Turner stopped them on the road, his clothes were covered with blood as he looked very exhausted, panting heavily. "They've found us, sire. We can't go back."

"What are you talking about?" Marcus could not believe what he was hearing. The location of their base has been hidden for more than a decade now, so it was unlikely that their enemies would find it now.

Frank Turner was quick to point fingers at Larry, Stephanie and Toby without delays. "It's these strangers, their presence is bad luck. I told you should kill them on the spot."

"No Frank," Marcus stops him from saying further, even though Frank had a point. He too saw reason to believe that their base was discovered because they brought the teenagers in, but thinking back on how they claim to have seen Andrew Hess, he was glad they did kill them with the other survivors.

"Will you stop defending them and see reason with me? You know I am right."

"Of course you're right, but there is more. They saw Andrew Hess."

The name also caused a spike in Frank's reaction but not like that of Marcus, he became calm for a moment, shifting his gaze to the three teens then back to Marcus again. "You must be joking right? They are taking you for a fool."

"No Frank." Marcus looked at his men and noticed they were in fear after hearing that his base was no longer a secret. "There is only one place we can go for now."

Frank was confused, because if they had a backup location, then he would have known of it, but right now, he was in the condition to argue with Marcus adding to the claim of Hess being somewhere in the jungle.

So they all followed Marcus' lead only for him to lead them back to the cabin where they found Larry.

Getting there, Marcus asked his men to take watch, while he went into the cabin with Frank, Larry, Stephanie and Toby.

Frank was surprised to see such a place just as Marcus, and very anxious to know how that place was the jungle all these while, he asked the moment they entered the cabin with his eyes pierced on Marcus, "This wasn't here?"

"I had the same reaction. Andrew brought them here, at least that's what they said."

"Okay," He turned to the three teens as he was fed up with that talk of Andrew, he didn't want to hear anymore about him, because his belief was very strong on the matter. "You better start talking. I want the truth. Who are you and where did you come from?"

They still did not have a clue of why they were getting that reaction after hearing the name Hess, therefore they didn't know how to answer Frank's questions.

"I don't think that question is necessary anymore, what we should be talking about now is how they got to know the name Hess and even claim to have seen him." Marcus' area of interest had shifted completely.

But Frank was not ready to start talking about some unrealistic character without facing the facts before him.

Also Larry realized that if he was going to understand the word in his head and those of Hess, then he had to come plain with them.

"We are citizens of Etodan although our ancestors were from planet earth, similar to your world but with advanced technology, so we were told. We only want to get back home, maybe you could bring us to a spaceship and we'll be on our way." Larry spoke with high expectations since he didn't know what their towns or cities look like.

"Aren't you forgetting what he said?" Toby whispered to Larry.

He had come to believe every word of Hess after seeing the conflict this name caused in the mind of Marcus and Frank.

"What who said?" Frank looks at Toby.

"Master Hess, the old man."

"Andrew Hess does not exist." Frank was still confident.

"But we saw and spoke to him. He showed us this cabin."

"And what exactly did he say to you?" Frank was curious.

"He said we are never going home again, that we should accept the present and forget about our past."

Still in doubt, Frank asked again, "Describe this man for me."

Marcus was tired of Frank's disbelief, the information they gave him already was enough to make him put aside his doubts and accept the facts. "Don't you get already, they saw him. He is real. So you better stop this interrogation and let's talk about how we are going to find him."