Leaping upon the treasure he seized armfuls of trinkets, throwing them around. He laid in them, rolled in them, placed a jewel encrusted crown on his head and made loud embarrassing comments about how he should rule the their world. Kira disapproved of his behaviour. She was bitterly disappointed in him. It was ill mannered at a time like this. Particularly because so many bones of the Cyclopia’s slaughtered victims were scattered all over the land.
She stamped her feet to get his attention. ‘What you’re doing is dishonourable and disrespectful to the dead,’ she said, anger in her voice.
He ignored her, sitting cross-legged like a child in a playpen with the broadest of grins, grabbing handfuls of Firestars and other precious stones, dropping them one by one. ‘She loves me, she loves me not, she loves me…’ he was singing.
Fed up with his childish behaviour, she shouted angrily. ‘Please stop this foolishness and look for that which we seek! Our time here is limited! There’s danger all around us and you’re behaving like an infant!’
Rogan froze, staring at her. ‘There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be rich,’ he said, digging his hands into thousands of Firestars, all blazing in the colours of a rainbow, creating a kaleidoscope effect on the ceiling that reflected back at him. ‘But I do agree that our time here is precious, so I’ll only take a couple of handfuls with me. I can’t carry much more than that anyway.’
Digging his fingers into the mountain of treasure again, he touched on something that had a familiar feel to it. He pitched forward digging deeper, straining his fingers. Taking a firm hold of the object with both hands he pulled hard. To his amazement it was an old Narok oil-miner's lamp. It was worthless, and a very strange find amongst a mountain of treasure. Half of it was polished and gleaming like something just crafted, and half of it was covered in grime. ‘This might be what we're looking for,’ he said, eagerly examining the object. He carefully blew away the dust of a thousand years. Then his eyes narrowed and zoomed in, focusing on a small inscription etched into the burnished metal. He chuckled to himself with genuine excitement.
*
At the devastated site of Tor’s Deep, chilling laughter still resounded over the mountainside, as thousands of howling demons combed the area in search of lost souls at the behest of their immortal master. Having killed every living thing, Koki now wanted to possess their souls to increase his already mighty power – for the more souls he gathers unto him, the further his reign of terror would spread. ‘Bring me every last soul,’ his voice whispered. It seemed to emanate from the very fabric of the mountain as black bony fingers probed and scoured the carnage of the once thriving village. Wild burning eyes glowed eerily in the darkness as they flittered silently from corpse to corpse doing their masters evil work.
*
Five hundred leagues to the south in the Cyclopia’s cave, Rogan and Kira were inspecting their accidental find. ‘Look it's sealed with a cork. Could it be the Mage Majiker's prison?' asked Kira.
Rogan blew away more dust. ‘There’s an inscription engraved upon it and it looks very, very old,’ he said.
‘What does it say?’ she asked, trying to snatch the lamp. ‘Can you make it out?’
‘I’m not sure what it says;’ he said pulling the lamp closer, ‘part of it is illegible. It needs cleaning.’
She tried to snatch the lamp again. ‘Here let me look. Maybe I can read it. I have the eyes of an hawk.’
He gave her the ancient lamp and she slid her fingertips over it, brushing away more dust. She held it under a brightly burning torch hanging on the wall and began reading the inscription.
From a land before time,
Where there's hope, but no fear,
Lives a Majiker who’s free
Where the waters are clear,
Speak only the words which you know to be true,
And the Mage shall appear
Here before you,
To protect and serve.
She was amazed. ‘It is the Mage's prison, and there’s more of the inscription, but I can’t read it.’
‘Then, how would we invoke the one within, should we need help,’ he asked.
‘Whoever engraved the inscription mentions speaking the truth. Maybe that’s all we have to do when we’re in a desperate situation and the Mage will come to our aid,’ she said, a tone of hope in her voice.
Rogan frowned. ‘That’s all very well, but what if you’re wrong? What if there’s a specific incantation that needs reciting to invoke the Mage?’
Deep in thought she mulled his words over. Putting the lamp to her ear she shook it, listening carefully. She could hear nothing. ‘Well, if that is the case, we must find some way of deciphering the whole inscription to find out what this thing is capable of doing.’
Suddenly, they stared at each other, and then at the miners oil lamp. It was as if someone had lit a candle in each of their heads. Now they both spoke the same name at the same time – Dopiaza.
‘If we clean it a little more, Dopiaza will enlighten us to the meaning of the words, and then we’ll be able to use the power of the Majiker,’ he said.
As they were studying it, a familiar blood-chilling roar came from the cave entrance. Both warriors froze. ‘Another Cyclopia,’ she whispered; a look of dread on her face.
‘Keep calm,’ he ordered, stuffing the miner's lamp into his waistband. He pulled the longbow from over his shoulder, loading it with great speed, and then watched wide eyed with terror as a dark sinister shadow approached them from the direction of the cave entrance. It flickered ghostlike on the torch-lit walls.
There was another terrifying roar, now louder and most certainly nearer. He ran back over to the chamber wall, craning his neck to peer around it. And sure enough, the one they had come in search of was no more than fifty feet away. Rogan’s heart sank and then lifted into his throat. He stared at the monstrous giant in disbelief. He had no trouble in recognising the Cyclopia as Phemus because he could see it's badly disfigured face in the torchlight.
The giant sniffed the air, roared again and began searching behind the rocks scattered about the floor, knowing they were in the cave somewhere. And it was only a matter of time before it found them. Rogan ran back over to where Kira was stood stock-still, petrified.
‘It’s Phemus. We’re trapped and there’s no way out,’ he said. ‘This is the giant's lair. The treasure must belong to it. Phemus has obviously found the Cyclopia we killed earlier today and is in a rage because we’ve invaded their domain. Unfortunately, we’re going to be very lucky to get out of here alive because the giant knows we’re in here and he’s searching for us right now.’
‘How could that ugly monstrous thing know we’re in here?’ asked Kira, her courage flagging.
‘Because of its acute sense of smell,’ he replied. ‘It makes up for its lack of sight. Having only one eye puts the giant at a distinct disadvantage most of the time, so its sense of smell is ten times more powerful than ours.’
‘Well, if its sense of smell is that good, it will find us in no time, because neither of us has bathed in days,’ she said.
‘Look around and see if you can find another way out of here,’ he whispered.
Both warriors scrambled around the chamber, frantically searching for another way out. There was none. There was only one way in and only one way out. And that meant getting past Phemus. Climbing down from a ledge, Rogan wondered how they could achieve this, when suddenly the miner's lamp dropped to the floor from out of his waistband. He stared at it, seemingly under a spell, eyes wide and glazed. He wanted the secret of the lamp for himself. How selfish, he thought shaking his head, freeing his mind of the spell binding him briefly.
‘The Narok lamp is the answer,’ he said jumping down beside it, picking it up.
Breathlessly Kira ran to where he was standing. ‘But how does it work?’
‘I've no idea,’ he admitted. Strangely, in his hands the ancient lamp felt like a cold corpse awaiting life. Then, he realised
that a small piece of the centuries old grime covering it had chipped off, exposing another part of the inscription which read:
When all hope is lost
And your lives are in fear
Call out my name
And Ginnt shall appear.
There was a dreadful ear-splitting roar. Both warriors turned to see the Cyclopia stood at no more than thirty feet away. It was licking its lips, clutching a large, spiked wooden club in one hand and the dead, disembowelled carcase of a bull in the other. Entrails and blood were dripping everywhere.
Kira screamed. ‘Ginnt save us for pity’s sake, or we’re going to die.'
The giant glared at them both. It seemed to smirk and licked its lips. Their bodies stiffened, paralysed with fear. Again a mighty roar bellowed from the mouth of the angry giant and once again the whole chamber shook and echoed.
‘Ginnt, where are you? Help us. Please!' screamed Kira, unable to take her eyes off the giant’s slavering mouth.
‘Nothing’s happening,’ said Rogan.
‘Here, give that to me!’ she said, snatching the lamp from his hands. She shook it as hard as she possibly could. The giant moved ever closer to them. She began to recite: ‘All hope is lost and our lives are in fear, I am calling your name, now please, Ginnt appear.’ Her voice trembled. However, nothing happened. A sob caught in her throat and fear flashed in her eyes, making them seem larger and darker. She glanced up meeting Rogan’s gaze and her heart sank.
‘We’re both going to die today. It seems like nothing can stop it from happening,’ she said.
The Cyclopia was now no more than a few feet away from them both. Out of pure frustration and anger she threw the lamp at its eye. She screamed, paralysed for a moment. Then she stepped back quickly, the colour draining from her face. Instinctively the giant shot an arm out in front of its face protecting itself and the lamp clattered noisily to the stone floor right in front of where she was standing. It bounced twice. The cork that sealed the lamp shot out with a loud pop.
From within the strange vessel there was a rush of air and – WHOOSH – a cloud of purple smoke burst forth. Another giant figure began to materialise in front of them. In their blind panic, neither of them had thought to uncork the lamp.
‘What is it that you wish of me, O Masters of the Universe?’ asked the Mage taking a solid form. He smiled, wild-eyed with his high, broad cheeks and wide coarse nose, flicking his long ponytail away from his pointed ears.
Kira screamed, ‘Kill the Cyclopia! Kill it now before it kills us!’
The Mage shook his head. ‘I cannot do that. It's against my nature to kill a living being, no matter how destructive or deadly it may be. However, if you so command me, I can protect you and help you leave this place in safety.’
‘Then help us now,’ said Rogan. ‘I do command you.’
The Mage nodded. ‘I hear and I obey master,’ he replied, growing in size with each passing second.
Within mere moments he towered over the Cyclopia and stepped in-between it and the two warriors. The Mage's shadow loomed over Phemus who was bewildered by what was happening. Rogan hid behind one of the Mage’s huge legs. Kira cowered behind the other. And they both became a little more confident of surviving the day.
The Mage opened his mouth, pursing his lips, blowing at the Cyclopia. A giant bubble engulfed it. The Cyclopia however, couldn’t understand what the shimmering force-field was. It could see through it and still move around inside it as it flickered hazily, but it couldn’t touch anything on the outside of it. Enraged, the Cyclopia made a great effort to escape by striking the force-field with the club. When that didn’t work, it struck out at the Mage. However, the bubble was completely impenetrable.
‘O Masters of the Universe, it's time we left this place,’ announced the Mage, ‘for the invisible bubble of bewilderment will only last for a short time.’ He de-materialised into a radiant wisp of smoke and went back inside the lamp from whence he came, as if he had never existed. The Cyclopia, however, was still raging inside the force field, barging its shoulder against it in an attempt to break free.
Rogan retrieved the lamp quickly and took the Mage’s sound advice. Both he and Kira ran back to the entrance and out into the daylight. ‘Come on,’ he shouted, ‘let’s find the others and get out of this dreadful place before the Cyclopia escapes that which binds him.’
Within minutes they were back at the clearing where they had killed the first Cyclopia. The other heroes were sat waiting for them with a look of disappointment on their faces.
Rogan smiled. ‘I'm glad to see you're all safe,’ he said breathing a sigh of relief. ‘But why the long faces?’
They all sat shaking their heads.
‘We’ve searched everywhere for the lamp and gained nothing but sore feet for our troubles,’ said Vinn.
Kira winked at Rogan, pretending to be disappointed too.
Baltar cursed and swilled wine from his canteen.
‘So, what about you, did you have any luck?’ asked Ofash.
‘Speaking of luck, that’s exactly what we did have,’ admitted Rogan, pulling the lamp out of his waistband.
The next fifteen minutes passed in the blink of an eye as the bowman told his friends of their encounter with the Cyclopia, and of finally being rescued by the Mage. They all sat in silence, speechless, listening to him talk about the horrors of their predicament and their subsequent miraculous escape. Every now and again Kira interrupted Rogan, adding more gruesome details of the Cyclopia to accentuate the gravity of their dire situation.
Rogan took great delight in telling the tale whole-heartedly, making it sound even more dangerous than it actually was. Not that any of them would have wanted to be in Rogan and Kira’s sandals at the time. He also spoke of the secret chamber within the cave, filled with centuries of treasure. At this point they all began to laugh and make fun of him, saying that he was telling lies
Ofash shook his head. ‘Do you really think we’re all that gullible?’ he asked stifling a yawn, looking bored. ‘You’ll have to do better than that to convince me of your find today.’
Rogan looked thoughtful for a moment, switching his steely gaze from one face to the other. He smiled with the broadest of grins, winking at Kira. ‘Well, how’s this for proof?’ he said producing a Firestar the size of a large pebble from a hidden compartment in the bottom of his quiver. ‘Have you ever seen the likes of this before on your travels?’
The others – including Kira – couldn’t believe what they were seeing. It was beautiful and sparkled like strong sunlight reflecting back from cold morning rain, lighting their faces with all the colours of the rainbow.
Baltar's eyes widened. ‘By my soul, never have I seen such a Firestar.’
Not another word was spoken, until the moment when Rogan stunned them all again by producing five similar Firestars, each one being a different size, shape and colour. ‘Now do you believe me?' he said.
Ofash stared at them. ‘Wow!'
The ground beneath them suddenly began to shake and tremble like an earthquake was coming. And the undergrowth began to rustle hugely. Something growled and roared. Trees were flung aside as Phemus appeared, ghostlike from out of the dark, swathed in trailers of mist, charging at them from out of the forest to their rear, spiked club still in hand.
Taken by surprise the warriors scrambled to their feet, snatching their weapons, making ready for the onslaught of the giant. The air seemed electric. And amid the confusion the Cyclopia rampaged through their makeshift camp like a whirlwind, taking full advantage of the element of surprise.
Dopiaza reacted first, spinning his bolas above his head, trying to guess the distance between the giant and himself. He got it wrong. The weapon thudded off its chest instead of wrapping around its neck, killing it.
Ofash ran at the giant, axe in hand, yelling his blood-curdling war cry. He got within striking distance and was side-swiped. Crashing into a nearby gully wall, he was knocked senseless.
> Kira took the initiative. She ran towards the giant, screaming and cursing. Her sword was raised in readiness. The Cyclopia thundered its club into the ground with such force – trying to kill Ofash – that it knocked her off her feet.
Baltar and Vinn seized a steel net they had been making earlier that day and threw it over the Cyclopia hoping to slow it down. It didn’t. It rampaged through it like a whirling maelstrom as if it was made of nothing thicker than a spider’s web.
The giant carried on relentlessly towards Rogan, who was preoccupied, fumbling with the Firestars, trying to put them back into his quiver. Realising the danger he snatched his longbow and one arrow. But he tripped and fell onto his back, hitting the ground hard. The Cyclopia loomed over him, its shadow blotting out the sun. Snorting and drooling greedily, it licked its lips as Rogan took aim at its eye. The giant glared back at him with murder in its heart, holding the club over him ready to strike. It sniffed the air, roaring and growling from its wide, grinning mouth full of fangs
Rogan’s hand trembled, restraining his arrow. ‘One of us is going to die today,’ he whispered darkly. Trailers of thick silver mist drifted in enveloping all of them.
Suddenly, the landscape began to transform right before their eyes.
‘It’s happening again,’ said Kira staring wide-eyed at the others.
‘And not a moment too soon,’ said Rogan.
The giant was confused, not understanding what was happening. It spun around quickly and thundered towards the others, spiked club raised above its head. However, before it could do any more damage it began to disappear, the terrifying roar fading into a solemn silence. Then it was gone.
Now the landscape changed into a deserted cloud filled arena and a familiar voice thundered forth. ‘Welcome to Brayfrost, dwelling place of the man-gods who have chosen you six to champion their cause,’ announced the Oracle. His black robes cloaked his scarecrow form and his hood shadowed his face. He stiffened; a touch of impatience in his voice at being forced to explain the rules of their cat and mouse quest.
The Blackhawks Impossible Quest Page 6
