World of Taroo
Jimmy Eriksson
Austin Macauley Publishers
World of Taroo
About the Author
About the Book
Dedication
Copyright Information ©
A Chance Meeting
Picking Up and Leaving
Taking Back the Money
Just in Time
Coming to the Great City of Shetana
Days of Work
Big Fight at the Restaurant
A House Earned
Market Day Grand Opening
The Chance to Gain Fame
First Fight of Opening Night
Power of Many
Champion
First Encounter of the Bounty Hunter
Owe a Life
Grand Opening
Second Encounter with the Bounty Hunter
Marriage of Gon and Senji
The Big Cooking Competition
Finding a Magic Stone
The Army Comes to the Forest
The Way Back to the Castle
Growing Wealth
Revenge for the Villagers
Terror in the Grasoll Land
Killing of a Prince
Take Over
Anger at the Castle
Conflict
A Son Comes Home
Take Away a Smile
Death Decides the Fate
A Brief Trip to the Land of Domoro
Getting Allies
The Strongest Fighter
Caught by the Enemy
Revenge Is a Great Feeling
Road to Freedom
Building a New House
Jay and Nami’s Wedding
A Legend Is Born
They Came
Great Power
Little Choices
Voices
The New Way of Life
Domoro Land Assault
The Water Stone
Freeing Queen Lisaro
Taking Back the Castle
Meeting an Old Friend
Going to the Island
The Tower
Climbing the Tower
Nightmare for Gon
Freeing Sophia
About the Author
Jimmy was born in one of the suburbs of Stockholm, Sweden. With parts of his life very hard with events that come in life, Jimmy took escape in the imaginary worlds of books and his own mind. When Jimmy could no longer stay in his current life, he decided to make an adventure and choose the furthest country away from his birth place. He fell in love with Australia and decided to stay. With a new life, he found peace of mind and was able to focus on the future and what he truly liked, which is writing and family life.
About the Book
The world of Taroo has many stories and while some are heroic and bring great rewards, others bring kingdoms to the brink of ruin. A young man becomes champion and earns both fame and fortune but will have to learn that not everything in life is happiness. A king faces the destruction of his kingdom and will do anything to stand up against it. A magic stone, strong enough to bring the most powerful kingdom to its knees, is awakening. Death is constant and no one is safe from it, as situations could set anyone close to the end of their life.
Dedication
For my wife and son.
Copyright Information ©
Jimmy Eriksson (2019)
The right of Jimmy Eriksson to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781528959872 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2019)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
A Chance Meeting
In the world of Taroo, on the island of Nanta, there was a small town called Dofamu that was located in the very south of it. In the markets, a teenage boy was running fast between the people. He was holding oranges in his arms and was being chased by a man shouting to give them back. The man following him was the shop owner and was holding a knife as he ran not far behind the boy. The boy turned into an alley and pushed some crates of fish that fell down and filled the road behind him. When the man swung around the corner, he slipped on the fish and slid down a flight of stairs into another alley. As he went down, he saw the boy, and he knew where he could take a shortcut. When he hit the bottom, he entered a bread shop and he was not far behind the young teenage boy, despite the fall down the stairs.
The boy saw that the man was still in close proximity to him, and decided to run towards the harbour. Well down there, he realised the man chasing him had caught up almost completely. An opportunity opened up that he was quick to use, and he jumped up on a box that was being loaded on to a ship. However, the shop owner was able to get his hands on the large box and was easily able to pull himself up. The boy, who saw his situation was getting worse, jumped over to a bridge that was not far off. The man tried to do the same, but missed the bridge because of a miscalculation of the distance. He was dangling from it, but was helped by some townspeople that were standing on the bridge looking at what was happening.
The man continued after the boy, but he had then a little head start. The boy turned into another alley and felt he was about to get away, but when he had turned into the alley, a cold sensation came over him. The alley was closed and the only way was back towards the man. He got scared and realised then he might be in deep trouble. He was about to drop the fruit when he heard a voice saying if he gave him half of that fruit, he’ll help him. The boy looked around but did not see anyone. The voice came again and then said to look down at his feet. The boy looked down and saw a well. He moved to the side and the lid was lifted. A little older boy came up and asked him what he thought about it. The boy with the fruit said “yes” and hurried down the open hole in the ground. The lid closed just in time when the man came running. He looked around and listened for movement but when he could not see anyone, he took off back towards the other way, thinking he must have taken a wrong turn.
Down in the sewers, the boys divided the fruit and ate some while they waited for the coast to be clear. The older boy said his name was Gon, and he wondered why he stole the fruit. The younger boy said he was so hungry and could not pay because he was an orphan; after his parents died due to a disease that claimed many others as well. Gon asked for the name of the boy with the fruit. The younger boy introduced himself as Jay. They talked and after a while, after feeling the situation had become safe, they climbed the ladder leading up from the sewer and when they were standing above, Gon asked Jay if he had anywhere to sleep. Jay said no, and immediately, Gon offered to let his new friend come and stay with him. Jay accepted and they started to walk from the alley they had been hiding in. They looked around every corner to make sure the shop keeper was not waiting for them, but as they could not find any signs of him, they then made their way out of the town by walking on the main road.
Gon told Jay he had been forced to walk to the small town once in a while and especially when the wagon broke a wheel at his farm. He said they had to walk for a couple of hours, but Jay said he was used to wal
king so it would be no problem. While they walked, Gon asked if Jay heard about the rumour about a young girl vanishing from her home. Jay had many times as there were people out late for days looking for her. He wondered what happened to her and Gon said he believed it was the pirates. ‘Pirates,’ said Jay, who didn’t think they would leave so far inland to kidnap someone. Gon said that many brothels around the world pay high price for someone beautiful and from what he had heard she was quite stunning for her young age. Jay still thought it was a lot of trouble getting away with someone just like that. He said that anyone sold or taken into the brothels would eventually be found. If she were taken to the brothels, someone would contact whatever people in charge about it. Gon was not so sure and reminded Jay that not everyone had enough money to just leave to seek out all the brothels in the world. Also, some kingdoms or land owners would not let people from other places due to differences between them.
Gon said he had heard rumours about the pirates being able to sell anything or anyone to anybody. Jay got a little chill and didn’t think it sounded very fair. They lived in a town that was not really part of any kingdom so who would even care if anyone vanished. ‘Perhaps, it was not true,’ said Gon, ‘and perhaps the young girl had simply run off. Either way, we won’t know because in a few weeks, we would, most likely, never hear from anyone about her again.’ He and Jay both knew that even if such a horrible crime would happen, it would become nothing as soon as something else happens. They changed subject and tried to find other ways of making the walk easier to do.
During the walk to the farm that Gon had been talking about, Jay asked if it would really be okay to sleep there. Gon told him about his uncle, Endo, being gone and him then staying at the farm by himself. Gon said that he never knew his parents and he only knew his uncle. The relationship between the uncle and Gon had been nothing special, and Gon focused on what he loved, which was cooking and martial arts. Jay was fascinated with the stories and listened as they walked for a couple of hours until they got to the farm. The boys arrived when darkness was upon them, and Gon brought Jay to his uncle’s room that was standing empty while he was gone.
The room was full of horse shoes, and Jay wondered why someone would fill the room with so many shoes. Gon said good night, and Jay could hear the door to another room close. When Jay was about to sleep, he reflected on that day and how lucky he had been that he ran into Gon and that he had called for him under the sewer cover. He would have to thank Gon properly the next day, he thought. Then he fell into a deep sleep, and had many dreams that brought both joy and sadness to him.
In the morning, Jay woke up to the smell of something he never knew before. As he arrived in the kitchen, the smell hit a peak, and Gon said good morning. The boy he met in the sewer then stood in front of him in full chef gear and had cooked a lot of buns and egg dishes. Jay was very impressed and sat down with all the yummy food that just got ready for eating. Gon was interested to hear more about Jay and how it came to be that he ended up stealing fruit. Jay told his story about how he was forced out by the aunty that took over the house his parents rented of her, and since she already had children, she didn’t felt she had any responsibility to take care of him as well. At times, he was sleeping under bars where there were fights and was never really quiet. He even slept in the forest at one point and had built up a small shelter that had little protection against rain.
Gon found it very interesting and asked Jay what his plan for the future would be. Jay sat quietly, but then said he would do anything to get out of the situation he was in at the moment. He wanted to see what was on Nanta and then sail away from Taroo on a ship, strong enough to face the strong sea. Jay said he knew it was merely dreams, but still intended to try. He asked if there was anything he could do to help out while staying there in exchange for a couple of more nights. Gon told Jay about the reason his Uncle Endo had left. The uncle had had some financial troubles and needed to leave to another town, to get money by working as a horse shoe maker, and was a pretty good one. Jay remembered the horse shoes in the bedroom and now knew why there would be some in the room.
Gon continued that the uncle sometimes even got orders from the King Lenchi of the Grasoll Land to provide shoes to the stables. The uncle and Gon never really had any strong bond to each other, so Endo had just left him a note about leaving and that was all he said. That was three months ago, and Gon had a feeling something might have gone wrong as he never stayed for more than a month away from the house. Gon figured he might have tired of the house and moved somewhere else or even died. In any case, Gon didn’t care and he had, for many years, wanted to leave himself. His main interest was to be a chef and he would like to have a restaurant in the big city. Jay wondered how he could be so sure he had left for good. Gon said that the contract of the house would expire after another two months, and they would either have to leave or pay for another year’s rent. Gon said that Jay would be very welcomed to stay in the house and would be an appreciated help to the small farm. Jay was very glad to have been invited, and so began the first of many mornings for them.
Picking Up and Leaving
The weeks passed and the two boys worked at the farm. They earned money by selling the apples that grew on the farm and the buns and bread that Gon baked. Every day, they headed to the town and sold them in the markets. Jay picked the apples from the trees in the morning and brought them in a couple of baskets. Each morning, he would see Gon going up a small hill, and he could hear noises that sounded like things were breaking and, when he would come down, he looked sweaty and rinsed himself off before they would leave.
They did well in Dofamu markets and when Jay had made enough money from the apples he sold, he went back to the man he earlier stole from and paid him for the oranges. The man was happy that he tried to make up for the theft and forgave him for stealing. Jay, without feeling afraid that he would be grabbed by the guards for stealing, kept on selling with Gon. The days continued as the same, until one day, something interesting happened at the farm when the two boys were having breakfast. There was a carriage coming towards them and it stopped right outside the small house. The two boys were living in an area close to the Grasoll Land’s kingdom and the mark on the carriage suggested that someone associated with the kingdom was inside.
Gon went out and welcomed the new visitors with Jay standing a bit behind. A tall man walked out and asked for his Uncle Endo. When he was told about his absence, he told the man driving the horses to get ready to take off. He was stopped by a female voice that came from inside the carriage. The two boys looked through the carriage window and saw a teenage girl not much younger than they were. She leaned out and asked the boys if they would have the specialised horse shoes Endo was famous for making.
Gon was standing in front of the carriage and was looking at a girl he had never seen before. He thought she might be one of the relatives to the royal family. Perhaps, even a niece or cousin to the king. He responded to her by saying that he had 12 shoes left and she was welcome to buy them for a cheap price. The girl walked out and asked to see them. From the doorway, Jay was watching and observing their conversation. The man riding with the girl in the carriage asked her to be careful, but she ordered to be left alone.
Jay came out from the house and Gon told him to bring out one of the horses from the stable. When he brought them, Gon showed the horse shoes and fitted them on one of the horse’s hooves, then took it off. The shoe slid off easily and anyone could see the quality of the shoe. From the side, the man from the carriage was keeping an eye on what was happening and was walking around the small farm. Jay had not much experience with horses and when Gon told him to take the horse back, he did so, but when he was about to turn a corner, the horse suddenly got stung by a bee. It kicked and was scared and began to run, with him sitting on the back of the horse. He could only hang on as it ran around the farm, and Jay figured he would have to calm the horse down. He tried to steer the horse with Gon and the girl watching.
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Gon shouted to Jay that he should jump off and roll on the grass. Jay saw the apple trees that the horse was running towards. The trees were next to the house and when he got close to one of them, he took aim and jumped right in to the tree. He was not visible, but when Gon came, running with the girl, and asked if he was hurt, he fell down and was lying on his back. In his hand, he held an apple and said to the girl that they also had apples for sale. The girl burst into laughter and so did Gon. At the carriage, the man had seen it all and was writing something on a note.
The girl found the boys very funny after spending some time with them. She had been treated to one of Gon’s buns and liked it a lot. She was very happy to be offered food as the road ahead would take some time to travel, and they were not sure they would have enough food for the trip and maybe be hungry later. The tall man at the carriage, as well as the driver, also got invited to have food. After that, the tall man felt the boys were good people and relaxed more. The girl headed back to the carriage after thanking the boys, and told the man travelling with her in the carriage to pay the boys. Gon was unwilling to ask for too much money since she had been so nice and he could only offer her 12 horse shoes. He offered a discount, but she stopped him and whispered something to the man riding with her. She then went in, and sat down on the beautiful seats inside the carriage. The man gave the boys an envelope and then also climbed into the carriage. The carriage took off, and they heard a voice coming from inside as it left. The girl said her name was Kemi and they should come to the kingdom sometime to see her.
After the carriage had gone, the boys went back inside and sat down at the table. Gon opened the envelope and inside were the payment for the shoes plus some extra. There was also a letter inside, which he took out and read. The letter was from the tall man and it said thanks for making Kemi laugh. He hadn’t seen her so happy for a long time and appreciated the boys for their kindness and hospitality.
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