The Fallen Kings

by P D Atkerson

  “There it is.” Slanslot said, stopping, he pointed towards a rock with the toe of his shoe. “That’s the stone I found; it was partly covered in moss.”

  Pushing past Lilay, Aroron knelt down and looked the rock over.

  They’d been right, it wasn’t a normal rock at all. He could see now how they'd known what they were looking for so easily. The rock probably would have looked normal, if it wasn’t for the blue glowing heart painted in the center of it.

  It was one of many strange things he’d seen since leaving the Dark Castle, nearly two years before.

  He scraped his nail across the surface of it, but it didn’t come off. Whatever it was, wasn’t normal paint. It had withstood a thousand years of rain, snow, and who knew what else! Yet, it looked like it was painted just yesterday.

  “Weird.” Aroron mumbled, standing back up. He turned towards Lilay and Slanslot. “How did you know they were still going to be here? I mean, someone could have taken off with one, couldn’t they? It has been a thousand years, I'm sure some kids have skipped rocks across this lake hundreds of times, maybe more. This rock might have been gone.”

  Lilay laughed. “They’re not normal rocks, Aroron.” She said, flashing Slanslot a smile. He shook his head and laughed too. “If you tried to dig it up, you’d have to go down ten feet before you found the bottom of it.” She told him. “They’re more like buried pillars, than stones.”

  “Oh…” That made more sense. Aroron thought, looking down at the rock.

  “We’d better get going, we only have so much time before the moonlight’s gone.” Slanslot said, looking at the ground around them. “This way!” he yelled, quickly moving forwards.

  Staying low to the ground, Slanslot followed the trail of rocks forwards and deeper into the forest. Following closely behind Slanslot, they weaved their way through the trees. They stayed silent, while they trudged on and up the hillside, towards the side of the mountain looming above them.

  The moon wasn’t very high in the sky, when they reached the side of the mountain. Soon dawn would arrive and the moonlight would be gone.

  “There it is.” Lilay whispered, falling back beside Aroron as she pointed ahead of them at the mountain. “That’s where the entrance to the tunnel is!”

  “Just in time, too.” Slanslot said. “The moonlight’s nearly gone and we would have been walking blind.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The hearts can only be seen by moonlight.” Lilay said and Aroron just nodded, staring at what lay in front of them.

  Now that he saw it, he couldn’t believe how hard it had been for them to find the entrance in the first place. It was a smooth stone cliff side, towering above them like a castle wall, partly hidden behind soaring trees. It was so blatantly obvious now.

  The wall was as smooth as glass, except for the strange looking hole in the center of it. Aroron moved closer and ran his hand along it.

  “That’s where the Dragon Blade goes.” Lilay said, moving to stand behind him. “It’s just like a key.”

  “Are you going to unlock it, or what?” Slanslot asked. “Do you need one of us to?”

  Aroron flashed him a glare. “No one touches my sword!” he hissed, gripping the hilt of it. “And believe me, you don’t want to.”

  “Fine!” Slanslot growled back.

  As Aroron drew the sword, moonlight glittered off the blade, just like it had the first night on the tower. He sighed. He and the sword had been through a lot together, it was almost as if it were a part of him.

  “Here we go.” He mumbled, fingering the sword. He wasn’t sure what to expect, but he sure hoped the sword worked to unlock the entrance to the tunnels. Aroron took a deep breath, then shoved the sword into the hole and turned it. There was a ‘click’ and he glanced towards the Elouns.

  At first nothing happened and Aroron started to wonder if it was going to do anything at all. He didn’t have to wonder for long.

  There was a loud groan and the ground beneath them began to shake, then the vibration moved up into the wall. Quickly, the three of them moved back and watched, as the stone wall split in half and slowly began to sink into the ground.

  A cold breeze blew against them, as it finally slid into the ground and left a gaping hole before them.

  “Whew!” Lilay said, coughing on the dust that filled the air. “It smells foul in there!”

  “It’s probably been a hundred years since anyone stepped foot in here, it’s not surprising that it smells.” Slanslot mumbled.

  Aroron nodded in agreement, as he stepped forwards. He didn’t know why, but the place seemed vaguely familiar to him, as if from a dream. Shaking away the thoughts, he moved through the entrance, followed closely by the Elouns.

  The cobwebs hanging from the roof were thicker than curtains draping from the roof. Aroron motioned for them to stay back, as he used his sword to cut through the cobwebs, as they went deeper into the tunnels.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Slanslot asked, grabbing a torch off the wall. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his match box. He tossed the lit torch to Aroron. “Unless you like the dark?”

  “Thanks.” Aroron said, turning back towards the tunnels. Holding tightly to the torch, he made his way forwards.

  Their shadows played off the cobwebs hanging above them. Mold oozed down the stone walls to both sides of them, as they worked their way around the puddles of icky looking water.

  They walked in silence for a minute, until Aroron saw something ahead of them. “Looks like the roof has fallen in up ahead.” He said, working his way around the rocks, as they slowly grew bigger. Carefully, Aroron climbed over the boulder, then turned back and helped Lilay over.

  “This isn’t what they were like during the war.” Slanslot mumbled, covering his face with the edge of his cloak as he pulled himself over the rock. “Why does it smell so, in here?”

  Aroron shrugged, as he turned back towards the path in front of them. Just at the edge of the torchlight, he could tell the path came to a 'T'.

  “Which way?” he asked, glancing back at the Elouns.

  Slanslot looked down one path, then the other. “I’m not sure.” He mumbled, biting his lip. “They look the same to me.”

  “You’re not sure?” Aroron repeated. “How the heck do you expect to find Hatter if you don’t know how to get there?!”

  “I’ve only been here once before!” Slanslot snapped, glaring at Aroron. “I wasn’t able to memorize everything!”

  “Well, you’re an Eloun. I guess I expected you to have some magic memory, since you’re such a superior species.”

  “Let’s go left.” Lilay said, cutting in. “Isn’t that the direction of Hatter, Slanslot?”

  Slowly, Slanslot nodded. “Yeah, it is.”

  “Fine!” Aroron said, shoving past Slanslot. “Let’s go left.”

  They hadn’t gone far, when the light caught the wall and Aroron saw the strange writing carved into the stone. He stopped short and drew closer to it. “That’s old Karlien. Why the heck is it here in Shenock?” Aroron asked, running his hand along it.

  “It’s in Shenock, because the Strangehearts were the leaders during the war.” Slanslot said, moving to stand behind him. “That’s why the Dragon Blade’s one of the keys to opening it, obviously.”

  Aroron swore, as his finger flew to his mouth.

  “Are you okay?” Lilay asked.

  “Yeah, I just cut my finger on a rough edge, that’s all.” He growled, shaking his hand off. His finger stung and he knew he had to have drawn blood.

  “Wow!” Slanslot said. “What did you do?”

  “What?” Aroron asked, looking up. Just in time to see the writing on the wall as it slowly began to glow, spreading out in front and behind them. It didn’t give off much light, but you could clearly make out the shapes of the writing. He shook his head. “Strange.” Aroron said. “We’d better keep moving.” It was then they heard a sound in front of them.


  “Did you hear that?” Lilay asked, grabbing both Aroron and Slanslot’s arms. “I’m sure I heard something.”

  “Yeah, I heard it too.” Aroron whispered, tightening his grip on his sword as the sound echoed through the tunnels again. “What do you think it…” That’s when they saw it.

  Lilay screamed. “Spider!” just as a white legged creature scurried across the floor and vanished into the darkness, leaving Lilay still clutching Slanslot and Aroron’s arms. Aroron could feel her shaking, at the same time he heard Slanslot suck in a breath of air.

  “That’s not just a spider, Lilay.” He whispered. “That’s a Fatole.”

  Lilay looked like she wanted to scream. Quickly, she let go of his arm and clasped her hand over her mouth.

  “What’s a Fatole?” Aroron asked, catching sight of the fear in Lilay’s eyes. Whatever it was, he knew it wasn’t good.

  “Something else from the Great War.” Slanslot mumbled.

  “Yes, something Luse sent upon our armies, killing hundreds.” Lilay whispered. “They’re very deadly.”

  Aroron felt his mouth go dry. “How deadly?”

  “If it touches your skin, you’re likely to die.” Slanslot mumbled, moving closer to Lilay. “That’s how deadly they are.” He said, drawing his sword. “And if there’s one, there’s more.”

  “Oh great,” Aroron said. “And you didn’t think to say anything about this before now?”

  “I didn’t think about it.” Slanslot said. “Everything else had changed, how could I have known they were still around?”

  “This was a bad idea!” She cried, burying her face in her hands. “I should have stayed home! I don’t want to die here.”

  “Stop it!” Aroron snapped, grabbing hold of her arm. “We have to keep our heads. Or we’re all going to end up dead.”

  “What happens if the creature burns?” Aroron asked, fingering his torch. Just as they spotted several more spiders inching their way towards them.

  “I don’t know.” Slanslot said, stepping back. “I don’t know much about them.”

  Aroron shrugged. “I guess there’s only one way to find out.” He said, just before he lunged forwards, toward the spider. The Fatole shrieked, as one of its legs caught fire and its eyes flashed. “Yeah, that didn’t work!” Aroron said, jumping back, as the spider hissed at him, spitting what Aroron guessed was poison. “We need to get out of here, now!”

  The three of them spun around and bolted back down the tunnel. The sounds of the Fatoles' hissing behind them. They dashed past the fork in the path and kept going.

  “I see a light!” Lilay cried, stumbling forwards. “Hurry, we must get out of here! There has to be an exit near here.”

  Aroron glanced back, and spotted the creepy skeleton like bodies of the Fatoles crawling after them.

  “Go! Go!” He yelled, shoving Lilay and Slanslot forwards.

  It didn’t take them long before they reached the end of the path and realized the truth. The light wasn’t coming from outside, it was coming from more Karlien writing.

  “See if you can open it, do something!” Aroron said, turning back to face the strange spider like creatures.

  As Aroron fought off the Fatoles, Slanslot and Lilay pounded against the wall, but it was no good.

  “This isn’t an exit!” Slanslot spat, hitting the wall one last time. “We’re trapped in here.”

  “No, there has to be a way out!” Aroron yelled, slamming his foot down. “There has to be!”

  It was in that moment, the earth shifted below them and the Fatoles hissed and jumped back. Once again it shifted, then moaned.

  “What was that?” Lilay asked.

  “I don’t…” Aroron’s words fell short, when he felt the ground begin to shake violently. A second later, the three of them screamed, as the ground fell away from them and they dropped.

  They went rolling and tumbling through the cavernous hole, until they stopped with a jarring thud, as they hit the stone ground once again.

  “These are just like the tunnels under the Dark Castle.” Aroron growled, shoving himself back to his feet. The only difference was, there was no light in here

  “I can’t see anything!” Lilay cried, and Aroron heard the sound of stones rolling across the ground. “Where are you two?!”

  “I’m over here, Lilay!” Slanslot called to her. “Be careful. You know what? Never mind, stay where you are. I’ll come to you.”

  “Okay.” Lilay said, sounding like she was on the edge of crying. Were all Elouns as emotional as she is? Aroron wondered, then another thought hit him and he felt sick. How deep inside the mountain were they?

  “No!” He growled, to himself. He couldn’t let himself freak out. Taking in a long breath, Aroron did his best to slow his breathing, he couldn’t allow himself to think about how deep they were inside the mountain. He could almost feel the weight of the mountain pressing down upon them. “Lilay? Slanslot? Where are you?”

  “Over here!” Lilay called, and Aroron slowly crawled in the direction of her voice.

  “Watch it!” Slanslot hissed, grabbing Aroron’s arm. “That’s my foot.”

  “Sorry!” Aroron growled back. “Grab Lilay’s arm and keep hold of my arm, we don’t want to lose each other in this darkness. But we do need to find a way out of here.” Aroron was just about to move forwards, when he felt Lilay grab him with her free hand.

  “Wait!” Lilay said. “I hear something.”

  “Hopefully not Fatoles this time.” Slanslot said, then fell silent. “What is that?” The sound was definitely not Fatoles. It was a rustling, rushing sound. Slowly growing louder.

  Aroron was about to say something, when realization hit him. “Water!” he yelled. “And it’s coming towards us.”

  “We must have triggered something when we fell in here.” Slanslot said. “What are we going to do?”

  “What can we do?” Aroron asked. “If there is water coming towards us, we have no choice but hope it won’t kill us.”

  “Oh, that’s a great way to put it!” Lilay cried. “Isn’t there something we can do?!” She yelled, the sound of the water nearly upon them.

  “Just give me your hand and hold onto each other.” Aroron said, grabbing her hand. “This just might be our saving grace.”

  “How?!” Slanslot asked.

  “It might just carry us out of this foul hole.” The words had barely left Aroron’s mouth, when the water hit them. The force of it threw them against each other, then they went smashing into the rocky ground. After several minutes of a bone jarring ride through the water, Aroron’s idea turned out to be right. The water was leading them out of the mountain, but it came at a price.

  He knew he was bleeding from a hundred different places, but he could barely comprehend the pain, before he saw the flicker of light ahead of them.

  Less than a minute later, they went flying through the opening and out into the open air, coughing as they spat the water out of their mouths as they hit the ground outside the stuffy mountain.

  Still out of breath, with his whole-body throbbing, Aroron pushed himself off the ground and looked down the valley below them. That’s when he saw it and despite himself, he laughed.

  “Hatter.” He mumbled, staring down at the city in the valley below. “We made it, and we’re still alive!” he yelled, before dropping back to the ground, exhausted.

  Chapter 7

  On the Road

  Hatter was a port city of five hundred people, hidden under the shadow of the mountain they called 'Telem'. It was this mountain Aroron and the Elouns found themselves sitting on the edge of, soaking wet and drained of energy.

  It had taken them all night to get through the mountain, but they had and they were lucky enough to end up right where they wanted to be. It seemed maybe, just maybe, Aroron’s luck had finally turned.

  After resting in the shade of the mountain for as long as they could, Aroron and the Elouns made their way down the hillside. It wasn’t long
before they broke out of the tree line and entered into the valley.

  In the distance, Aroron could make out the sound of a wagon drawing nearer. They had to be close to a road! Maybe if they hurried, they could even catch a ride on the wagon.

  Without a word to the Elouns, Aroron quickened his pace and hurried towards the sound of the wagon. It wasn’t long before they came upon a beaten down path running through the valley, some might call it a road.

  Aroron stopped at the edge of the road and turned back towards Slanslot and Lilay. “Pull your hoods up.” He ordered, motioning for the Elouns to hurry.

  “Why do we have to hide?” Lilay asked, glancing around them as they edged closer to the main road. “Why does it matter if we put our hoods up or not?”

  Aroron sighed and dropped his chin against his chest. He’d forgotten again that they didn’t know what the modern world was like. “Because, your white hair shows you’re not normal.” He mumbled.

  “So?” Lilay said, crossing her arm. “Why does that matter?”

  “It matters, because being an Oddity can get you into trouble here in Shenock.” Aroron said, thinking back to Brody’s warning in Hunter’s cabin. “Either you’ll be enslaved, thrown into prison or killed. Still want to know why?” he asked. He hadn’t even mentioned the Aliters, the horrid humans who steal the gifts from Odditys. One had nearly done so to Aroron, not long before he'd met the Elouns.

  Lilay just looked at him, then silently, she pulled her hood up and tighter about her hair.

  “It’s almost here. Stay quiet, I’ll do all the talking.” Aroron told them, as the wagon rounded the corner. Aroron stepped onto the road and motioned to the wagon driver.

  “Woah!” the driver yelled, pulling up on the reins as he drew closer to Aroron. The horses whinnied, as they stumbled to a stop. “Howdy!” he called, waving to them.

  Aroron took his friendliness as a good sign and smiled. “Hello, sir.” he called back, moving closer to the wagon. “Thank you for stopping.”

  The driver nodded. “What can I do for you?”

  “We’ve traveled a long ways and would be very grateful, if we could ride the rest of the way to Hatter with you. If that’s the direction you’re headed.”