‘Many of those warriors and their steeds were lost in those battles, so after the war ended the troops were disbanded and the thirteen leaders of those troops brought the surviving horses to this land and we created this magical Kingdom as a reward for their heroic deeds, to end their days running free in the lush green landscape. Twelve of the leaders stayed here with them, but Favoria returned to his homeland to make sure the Fairy creed survived, and I was selected to become the Guardian of the Kingdom. From time to time Favoria sent one of his trusted warriors to check on the horses, and as each of the twelve leaders passed away we buried them in the secret valley close to their beloved steeds, and the shrine you have visited was formed. Sadly, some of the Fairy troops turned to the evil side of Colgilor, and as I am aware you, Ferreira, have just defeated the last of those troops, so we are left with your troop and those chosen by the Great Wizard to live in the secret land he created for them and the warriors of the Dwarfs, Elves and Centaurs who had battled alongside them.’
The Guardian led them out of the cave to address the waiting warriors, but before he could speak the sound of galloping horses filled the air and the ground beneath them trembled as Star appeared, flying low in the sky and leading his full herd of magnificent steeds. He came to land a short distance in front of the warriors, with his herd pulling up behind him. The Great Wizard stepped forward, raising his hand to quieten the excited crowd. ‘The Fairies and Elves will ride the horses. The Centaurs and Fauns will follow them. The Dwarfs will fight on foot. But to make the journey to the Darkside easier, Shaun will ride Star alongside Herne: they will carry a portal to the outskirts so you can pass straight through from here. Once there, Shaun will decide where and when to deploy each of your armies. I have provided you all with a magic rucksack filled with water and an essential selection of food; each time you take something out it will automatically refill, so you will never go hungry or become dehydrated.’ He turned to Shaun and handed him a second portal. ‘This is a spare one: when you have to move to another area of the Darkside, you and Herne can ride there and the army can pass through to join you.’
Shaun was standing alongside Herne as Star trotted over towards him. Herne gave him a leg up before mounting his faithful black stallion and raising his huge sword in the air to the deafening cheers of the warriors, which continued as Star turned and galloped forward with Herne and his hounds close behind. The Great Wizard raised his hand as the two brave riders took off, soaring up over the lush green landscape heading for the Darkside.
They travelled through the morning into the late afternoon before finally touching down on a large, secluded area a short distance from the Darkside, but out of sight of the main gates which had the two Griffins perched on the stone pillars either side, keeping watch. Once they had dismounted and settled down, they enjoyed a well-earned meal while waiting for the sun to disappear; as darkness fell, Shaun took out the portal and informed the Great Wizard they had arrived and to start sending in the warriors in small groups, so they could make sure there was as little noise as possible so as not to alert the Griffins.
As each group stepped through, Shaun and Herne organised them into their separate armies, and after all the warriors were in place the two Dragons joined them and the Great Wizard closed the portal. Shaun turned to the leaders who had gathered at the front of their armies. ‘Are we ready?’ he cried, raising his magic hammer above his head.
The leaders, in union, raised their weapons, and their warriors responded with an ear-splitting cry, ‘Death to the evil ones!’ which reverberated through the air. Shaun and Herne mounted up; they waited until all the Fairies and Elves had climbed up onto their horses before moving forward out of the clearing and heading towards the main gates.
Shaun and Herne led the way with the two dragons flying above them; the Dwarfs with the legendary swords walked behind ahead of Prince Duval, Prince Dakro, Draggar and their armies of Dwarfs, with Caroush and Cabura with their Centaurs and Sateala and Sedene with their Fauns close behind. Bringing up the rear, the armies of Fairies and Elves: a truly impressive sight, looking a formidable force determined to achieve victory. As they drew near to the main gate, the two Dragons sent out a belching flow of flames and smoke towards the Griffins who immediately took flight, giving off an ear-splitting screech. Shaun quickly slipped off Star’s back as they reached the gates, and with one blow from his mighty hammer smashed them down, allowing the warriors to flow through.
Shaun and Herne led them forward towards the underground cave of the witches, which was quite a long way inside; they marched on till they reached the top of one of the many ravines and came to a halt, so they could regroup and take a rest and refreshments. After a short break, Shaun led them down to the valley floor in front of the steep rock face which housed the witches’ cave. On their previous visit the entrance was camouflaged with thick vegetation, but now it was clear – obviously through the constant comings and goings of the guards.
But as they drew near, suddenly they were brought to an abrupt stop, as from out of the cave entrance the two witches emerged with the two Griffins flying above, sending out the dreadful screeching which seemed to reverberate throughout the whole area. And to Shaun’s horror an army of armed Zombies flooded out of the cave, and above them in the distance the sound of weird screams and cries, gradually increasing in volume as it drew closer. Shaun and the warriors looked up at the thick, grey, swirling mist that totally blocked their view, searching for the source of the increasing nerve-jangling noise, when suddenly a host of flying creatures swooped down towards them. Evil-looking monsters: some with Goblin-like bodies with large heads and horns and huge eagle wings; other flying reptiles covered with horny scales, large, fang-like teeth and huge talons, their deep red eyes locked onto the warriors below.
But the most terrifying sight was flying along both flanks of the creatures: strange, wolverine-type monsters with large, vulture-like wings, and riding on their backs strange, evil-looking Imps with long, spindly arms and legs, huge, bat-like ears, wrinkled, bald head with dark, sunken eyes and an enormous beak of a nose. Their wings enabled them to manoeuvre in the air, swooping down over the heads of the warriors before rising up and disappearing back into the mist, trying to unnerve their prey. But Shaun waved the Elves and Centaurs forward; they loaded their bows and as the creatures swooped back down they were hit by a shower of arrows. The air was filled with agonising cries as they fell to the ground; some lay motionless and others, just wounded, managed to stagger to their feet and move forward, but the Dwarfs quickly responded, slaying them with their swords. The Imps out on the flanks reacted quickly, steering their wolverines away from the flying arrows. Shaun waved the two Dragons to take flight and they swooped up, one on either flank, sending streams of flames towards the wolverines who tried in vain to escape. Some of the Imps jumped off and fell to the ground: some of them survived but were captured by the Dwarfs; the others were incinerated along with their wolverines.
There was a short lull, but before Shaun could move the warriors forward out of the black mist, a dozen or so giant birds appeared: they looked a fearsome sight with their huge wingspan sounding like claps of thunder as they beat them up and down. Their claws looked big enough to grab a horse and their enormous, evil-looking eyes were enough to send shivers through the bodies of the frozen warriors. But again Shaun was quick to react. As the birds glided down towards them, he waved a troop of Elves forward. These were armed with the magic arrows of the Great Wizard, and one by one the birds fell to the ground, sending out a thunderous, painful cry as they crashed down, making the ground vibrate with the impact, and they slumped lifeless in a heap.
The Witches screamed out in anger as they raised their wands, sending out flashes of lightning towards Shaun. He raised his hammer and they bounced off, shooting back towards the witches who managed to step out of the way, but as they raised their wands again Shaun pointed his ring towards them and closed his eyes. There was a brief pause before the witche
s’ wands lit up and exploded. Again the witches screamed out in frustration before sending the Zombies ambling forward, their swords raised. ‘Kill them all!’ Baba Yelka screamed. ‘See what your mighty army can do with them? You can’t kill the dead even with your magic hammer!’ She was joined by her sister and they both gave out a loud cackle as they disappeared back into the cave, rubbing their hands with glee.
As the Zombies approached, the six Dwarfs with the legendary swords stepped forward; the one with the God Loki’s magic sword led the assault while Shaun, Herne, the Centaurs and Prince Duval and a dozen of his warriors headed for the witches’ cave and disappeared inside. It was just as Shaun remembered and, although their eyes had become accustomed to the dark, miserable conditions outside, it was so much worse inside the narrow tunnel: not only dim and gloomy, but the air was so cold yet clammy, and they struggled along for a few hundred metres before entering the long, cavernous area with a dozen or more tunnels leading off.
Shaun paused for a while, trying desperately to remember which tunnel to take, when suddenly his waystone lit up and he gave out a huge sigh of relief as he led his small army through the interconnecting tunnels following the waystone’s directions. It was even more weird than he remembered as they passed through chamber after chamber with strange formations of stalagmites and stalactites, and the continuous maze of tunnels, caverns and more chambers.
Finally, after an exhausting journey, they entered the witches’ chamber with its magic area marked out and a large portal mirror standing in the centre. Suddenly from a nearby tunnel the witches appeared and quickly stepped into the magic area, touching the portal before turning to face Shaun. He watched as the portal lit up and the hazy mist swirling inside the mirror slowly cleared to reveal the Dark Wizard. But as Shaun moved forward, the witches stepped through to join the Dark Wizard.
He fixed an evil gaze towards Shaun. ‘You have won a small battle, Shaun, but I am looking forward to the war. We are fully prepared and await your arrival.’ His voice was hollow, without any emotion, and it boomed out, reverberating around the chamber. An evil smile spread across his face. ‘Oh yes, and look, we have the two warlocks who were banished by your Great Wizard: they, too, are looking forward to their revenge,’ he sneered as he waved them over to join him and the witches in the mirror. ‘So you see, I have the witches and the warlocks on my side. Our combined magic powers are more than a match for you and the Great Wizard. So don’t keep us waiting too long: you had better be on your guard. On your journey here I organised a few surprises for you.’ He gave out a scornful bout of laughter, and the witches and Warlocks joined in before the portal exploded into a thousand pieces.
When they returned to the surface, Shaun was so relieved to find all the Zombies lying lifeless on the ground: just as the Great Wizard had predicted, the legendary swords had done their work. After a short, well-earned rest and refreshments Shaun led his mighty army forward, now brimming with confidence, although they knew that there was still a long way to travel to the Dark Wizard’s fortress and that, as he had promised, there would be many more unpleasant surprises on the way, but the Zombies were their greatest fear and they had been eliminated.
But they had only travelled a few miles along one of the valleys with rugged mountains rising skyward on either side, when suddenly from out of the many caves along each side emerged dozens and dozens of redcaps, weird-looking creatures with short, stocky bodies, old, haggard faces with bright red eyes to match their blood-stained caps, large, protruding teeth and beak-like noses: truly evil-looking creatures. They carried long, heavy pikestaffs in their hands which were hooked, claw-like talons, and they were dressed in leather tunics and boots.
They stood a while until they were all gathered outside their caves, then sent out a blood-curdling chant as they surged forward towards the intruders. Shaun quickly organised his warriors: half the Dwarfs with three of the Dwarfs with the legendary swords moved to intercept one of the groups, and the other half of the Dwarfs led by the other three with the legendary swords headed for the other side. The two Dragons took off, flying up high before swooping down, one either side of the valley, sending streams of smoke and flames belching out and down towards the redcaps. Some of them disappeared back into the caves; others who had survived the flames were in panic mode, and the Dwarfs had the easy task of disarming them before they two disappeared back inside their caves. Shaun called for the Dwarfs to return to the other warriors, and once they were all safely back Shaun pointed his ring towards the mountainsides and closed his eyes. The army looked on in disbelief as part of the rugged rock face crashed down, sealing the cave entrances on both sides.
Finally, after travelling a few more miles, the air began to change, becoming thick and pungent. Herne knew they were approaching the forbidden area which was the Kingdom of the Dark Wizard, and from out of the gloomy, swirling mist appeared the sheer cliff face he had encountered on his first visit. The cliff soared skyward and continued in both directions as far as the eye could see, which formed a perfect barrier to the mountainous landscape that housed the Dark Wizard’s fortress.
Herne turned to Shaun. ‘What now? We can fly over the top to the other side but what about our army? There is no way around and it would be impossible to scale the sheer cliff face.’ Shaun pondered for several minutes, searching desperately for an answer. He could maybe use his hammer but it wasn’t just a wall, it was a huge mountain. Just then the Great Wizard’s voice entered his thoughts: ‘The ring, use the ring: point it towards the cliff face and I will do the rest.’
Shaun breathed a huge sigh of relief as he waved the army back. ‘Move well out of the way: I’ve no idea what will happen next.’ Herne quickly ushered them twenty or 30 metres clear of the face and they all held their breath as Shaun pointed the ring towards the cliff face. There was an agonising lull as they stood in silence, all eyes gazing forward, when all of a sudden the silence was broken by the sound of creaking and grating, gently at first but steadily increasing in volume. All the warriors gasped in unison as a section in the centre started to disappear from the top, slowly descending to the bottom, and to their amazement it had formed a steep canyon cutting through to the other side. Even Shaun and Herne were dumbfounded: they looked at each other and shook their heads. A huge grin spread across their faces before leading the army forward. There was nervous silence as they made their way through the canyon, their eyes looking up and scanning the sheer rock face either side, half-expecting them to cave in and bury them alive.
There was a loud cheer of relief as they reached the other side; they took time to gather their breath and take in the majestic landscape that lay ahead. Huge, rugged mountains, deep valleys and dense forests with thunderous waterfalls cascading down from the mountains and roaring rivers crashing their way through this bewildering, harsh yet impressive land. And to make things worse, the dark, swirling mist above like an evil, eerie shroud gave out the atmosphere of danger and death.
Herne pointed over to the highest of the mountains in the distance with its dark halo floating around it from top to valley below, and they could see a strange aura hanging over the area around the mountain that somehow seemed to enter their thoughts and dampen their spirits.
Shaun was quick to realise their feelings as he turned to face the warriors. ‘This negative feeling we are experiencing is the work of the Dark Wizard. We have him worried and he is trying to unsettle us, but it is he who is concerned. He can feel we are getting close and is trying to gain the advantage: as long as we remain banded together fighting as one, we will, I promise, be victorious.’
Slowly they raised their heads and lifted their weapons in the air and began chanting, ‘Death to the Dark Wizard and his followers! Long live the Great Wizard!’ Shaun beckoned Garoob and Garoushe to join him before once more addressing the army. ‘These are our secret weapons: they are two of the Dark Wizard’s personal guards who suffered at the hands of their cold, ruthless leader. They know every inch of his
Kingdom and the layout of his fortress; the Dark Wizard has no idea they have joined our side. They will be invaluable, particularly when we attack his fortress.’ Again the army raised their weapons, their spirits and resolve now fully returned as Shaun, Herne, Garoob and Garoushe led them forward.
They travelled swiftly and silently, keeping close to the mountainside which gave them some cover, and above the dense, swirling mist was the perfect camouflage. But as they entered one of the deep valleys the silence was broken by the sounds of ghostly screams and piercing screeching, as from out of the craggy valley sides emerged an army of armed skeletons on horseback. Just the sight of them sent shivers down through Shaun’s army, and they came to a sudden halt, frozen to the spot, staring in disbelief at what they were seeing.
The horses looked normal apart from their heads which were pure evil with huge, glaring, luminous green eyes, slavering, fang-like teeth and a long, bright red tongue in a large, gaping mouth. Their bodies were as black as coal and their manes were long and silver, as were their bushy tails. Their riders were something out of a horror movie, Shaun thought as he shook his head, trying desperately to think how to tackle them. A black cloak was draped around their necks and each one was carrying some kind of lance; but the most terrifying part of them was their head which had a black helmet with two large horns. The helmet was wrapped around the head with only two small holes with two bright, piercing white eyes glaring through. Their jaws contained a full set of gleaming white teeth, and each had a black goatee beard.
They waited until they had all gathered at both sides of the valley before giving off another unearthly scream as they closed in on Shaun’s army, their lances raised ready for battle. Shaun quickly organised his warriors into two groups: the dwarfs with the magic swords led them forward three to each side of the valley, with the fairy warriors and the fauns brandishing their swords, and by their sides were the Dwarf warriors. The Elves and the Centaurs fired a hail of arrows over the heads of their advancing army, bringing down some of the horses; this was quickly followed up with their warriors racing forward and attacking while the skeletons were in disarray. The Fairy warriors and the Dwarfs soon finished the battle, smashing the skeletons’ bodies and decapitating each one.
War in Colgilor Page 14
