Suddenly, a Goblin Soldiers produced a crossbow and fired it in their direction.
“Keep your heads down,” screamed Macy. She peeled herself off Romulus’s back and crouched low on the Flying Carpet, pulling the Spell Keeper and Romulus with her. “This guy’s nuts.”
The crossbow bolt fired by the aggressive Goblin Soldier fizzed harmlessly overhead, rebounded off one of the gigantic pillars and smashed violently onto the ground below. But then, the same Goblin Soldier reloaded his crossbow and fired it at the Flying Carpet a second time
Macy heard a weird sound coming from behind and raised her head. It was the sound of material being ripped apart, and one both the Spell Keeper and Romulus recognised instantly.
“He must have fired a whirly bolt at us,” Romulus’s voice filled with panic as the Flying Carpet came to an abrupt halt … and caused everyone to fall forward and bang into one another.
“It’s definitely a whirly bolt,” agreed the Spell Keeper as he straightened himself up. “This is not good news — not good news at all.”
Macy looked puzzled. “What’s a whirly bolt?”
“See for yourself—” said Romulus pointing to the back of the Flying Carpet, “—that should answer your question.”
Macy turned and homed in on the crossbow bolt which had been fired moments earlier — only this was no ordinary bolt. She sat and watched in utter disbelief as the bolt, which had opened into the shape of a hand size aeroplane propeller, systematically gnawed away at the Flying Carpets threads. Her face turned pale and she spun back round. “So that’s a whirly bolt. What are we going to do? If we wait much longer, it’ll be munching on us next.”
The noise from the whirly bolt as it chomped its way through the Flying Carpet filled all three of them with dread. And they huddled together and moved across to the furthest corner from the greedy carpet-eating machine. It was an action more in hope than anticipation that someone or something would get them out of the predicament they found themselves in.
“You should’ve listened to me ... I told you I’d get you back.” The sound of the whirly bolt was broken by the deep rattle incrusted voice of Gordrick.
Macy looked over the edge of the Flying Carpet, suspended about four metres in the air, and spotted him directly underneath. “Great, that’s all we need.”
Gordrick opened a hand and produced a large golf ball size magnet and used it to summon the whirly bolt over to him. With a flick of his wrist the whirly bolt folded back to its original state, leapt from what was left of the Flying Carpet, into the air and landed safely on the magnet. It wasn’t a moment too soon, as the Flying Carpet had been reduced to half its size, with Macy, Romulus and the Spell Keeper perched precariously on the outer edge. “Do you yield?” Gordrick bellowed out.
There was no discussion and Romulus gave the only reply open to them. “Yes, we yield. There’s not much else we can do, and you know it.” Romulus knew they were in deep trouble, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Gordrick ordered Romulus to land the reduced Flying Carpet and gained immense pleasure with a follow-up order, to seize them all.
“You’ll never know how good it feels to hear you say that you yield to my demands. It fills me with absolute joy to have you yield right in front of me and my soldiers.”
Romulus found it hard to take. To be forced to yield to his sworn enemy made him feel nothing more than shame and embarrassment, and as he stepped off the Flying Carpet, his feelings turned to anger, and he launched himself at Gordrick. His mind blinded with emotion, and his senses programmed on attack mode, he had intended to land a punch on Gordrick’s mangled face, but he never stood a chance. As he closed in on his target, eight Goblin Soldiers dressed in full length gold silk robes and silver helmets, from Gordrick’s own private Goblin Guard, wrestled him to the floor.
“Leave him alone! Does it really need eight of you to stop him?” Macy was incensed by the violent tactics used by the Goblin Guards and voiced her opinion with a loud hysterical scream.
“Don’t look so concerned, little girl.” Gordrick placed a foot on Romulus’s head and pressed down. “Romulus is going to have to deal with a far stiffer task than a small confrontation with my guards,” he coughed and cleared his throat. “Tomorrow, he faces the ultimate challenge — a deadly game of Chandrapaul.”
“Chandrapaul?” Macy replied curiously. “What’s that?”
A ghoulish phlegm rattle of laughter burst from Gordrick’s dark red lips. “You’ll have to wait and see. When tomorrow comes, all will be revealed.” Triumphantly, he ordered his Goblin Guards to take the three captives away to join their friends in the dungeon.
“Good,” whispered Macy. “If we’re being taken to the dungeon, at least we won’t have hunt for Jack, Olivia and Hangaku, to rescue them … as they’re already there.”
“Yes, but who is going to rescue us?” the Spell Keeper whispered back. “We’re not being taken to the dungeon for a friendly visit — they intend to lock us up too.”
“Silence!” barked Gordrick. He had overheard Macy and the Spell Keeper and let them know in no uncertain terms what he thought. “No one is going to be rescued, get that into your thick skulls.” He raised his foot off Romulus’s head, tucked his toes under his left shoulder and flipped him over. “Kraken will be pleased when he finds out, not only did you surrender without a fight, but I forced you to yield to my demands.”
Again, a sickening cackle of laughter bounced off the walls as Gordrick dragged Romulus to his feet and pushed him into the baying hands of the Goblin Guards. And with his work done for now, he turned and walked towards a set of huge, dark brown wooden doors. Romulus wasn’t finished yet and squirmed his way free of the Goblin Guards, and for a second time, launched himself at Gordrick.
A Goblin Guard raised the alarm and called out to Gordrick. “Look out, sir.”
Gordrick spun round and thrust both arms out in front. Then he followed it up by producing a bolt of boiling pink lighting in the palms of his hands. But it didn’t stay there long as he threw the hot lightning bolt directly at Romulus’s body.
Romulus had no time to react and was hit dead centre in his chest. The force of the lightning bolt knocked him off his feet and across the Great Hall. He landed hard against a giant pillar and slumped to the floor, in a lifeless heap.
“Gordrick, stop!” yelled the Spell Keeper, held by the arms by two Goblin Guards.
But Gordrick was in his element and rushed over to the pillar where Romulus’s body lay and raised his arms once more. “So, you want to play rough, do you? Well, that’s fine by me.”
“He meant you no harm, Gordrick.” The Spell Keeper pleaded Romulus’s case as best he could. He knew Gordrick was about to snuff his friend’s life out. “He only did what you yourself would have done, given similar circumstances.”
The Spell Keeper’s plea seemed to have done the trick as Gordrick turned away from Romulus and threw a venomous glare in his direction. “You’re right — if I was to find myself in the same situation, my first instinct would be to fight to the bitter end.” He clapped his hands twice to attract the attention of all the Goblin Guards present. “Keep a watchful eye on them all. If any of them escape, you know the consequences.”
“And what of Romulus?” asked the Spell Keeper fearfully for his friend’s safety.
Gordrick snorted heavily. “He can live, for now. You should feel pleased that you’ve just saved your young friend’s life, for the time being. He has spirit, I’ll give him that. What a pity he fights for the wrong side.” Gordrick disappeared through the large wooden doors guarding one of the entrances to the Great Hall.
The Spell Keeper and Macy were frog-marched towards the dungeon, where Hangaku, Jack and Olivia were being held. They were eager to keep an eye on Romulus, so they could ascertain any progress in his struggle to regain consciousness, but as they were bundled out of the Great Hall, they lost sight of him. Romulus, unable, for obvious reasons to make his own way
down to the dungeon, would eventually be taken there, on a stretcher, by a contingent of Goblin Guards.
The atmosphere was a sombre one as Macy and the Spell Keeper were forced down several flights of stairs, through a dark passageway, and into the dungeon. It hadn’t exactly been a party atmosphere in the Great Hall, where they had run into Gordrick Goblin Guards, but there was something even more sinister about where they had ended up.
There was an eerie hollow stillness about the place. And apart from their own clanking footsteps and that of the Goblin Guards, the noticeable lack of noise gave the dungeon a creepy feel about it. The whole place looked as though it could do with a squadron of sponge happy cleaners to go over it. The walls and floor were caked in filthy green and sticky goo, which gave off a rotten putrid pondweed smell, that hung in the air and clung to the back of their throat like an unwelcome cough.
There were a total of eight cells in the dungeon; each secured by a large black iron door, with a spy hole the size of a fist bored out at head height and a sliding bolt lock.
“I hope Kraken doesn’t intend keeping us here for too long,” whispered Macy over her shoulder at the Spell Keeper. A look of sheer disgust and revulsion blistered her pale complexion as she wiped her hands on a bale of hay next to her. She had inadvertently placed them on a section of grunge coated smelly wall moments earlier.
“Not exactly home from home, that’s for sure,” said the Spell Keeper.
Macy was ushered forward with the help of a shove in the back from one of the Goblin Guards behind her. “Come on, move it,” came a grunted order as she was urged to hurry further into the dungeon ... though the needless action by the Goblin Guard didn’t go down well with her.
In a flash, she spun round to confront the perpetrator, and fired a verbal warning shot.
“You know what happened to the last one of you who defied Gordrick?” she was thinking back to the Nebier Forest and a certain Goblin Soldier called Zelth.
It was clear by the nervous expressions now visible on the faces of the Goblin Guards, they knew exactly what she was talking about. They may not have been there when Zelth had been vanquished, but it was obvious to see that word of his demise had spread through Tormencer Castle like wild fire.
“Watch yourself,” said the Spell Keeper. “They don’t take kindly to threats.”
“Do I look bothered?” came a confident reply from Macy. She turned her attention back towards the Goblin Guards. “Touch me again and I’ll see to it that Gordrick plays the same deadly game with you.”
Macy could be a handful and headstrong when she wanted to be, and her show of strength and character had a marked effect on the Spell Keeper, who decided to stay silent, in case she released a verbal onslaught his way.
Unbeknown to her, Macy’s theatrical outburst had brought her only moments away from a reunion with her friends, Hangaku, Jack and Olivia. It had been her piercing vocals that had done the trick, as a familiar voice called out from one of the dungeon cells.
“I’d recognise that voice anywhere!” It was Jack, his mouth pressed hard up against the spy hole in his cell door.
Macy placed the sound and which of the eight cells in the dungeon it had come from and ran straight over to it. “Jack!!” Her excitement almost got the better of her as she pressed an eye hard against the spy hole.
“Yes,” replied Jack. “I wondered when you’d get here. Have you come to get us out?”
A short pause followed before Macy broke the news. “Well, not exactly!”
“Speak up,” shouted Jack. “I can hardly hear you.”
“I said, not exactly. Well, what I mean is, getting you and the others out of here had been the plan. But it all seems to have gone pear shaped at this moment in time.”
Olivia had been alerted to her two friends conversation and joined in. “Don’t tell me you’ve gone and got yourself caught?”
“Okay, okay, so what if I have?” blasted Macy. “At least I had a bit more of a taste of freedom than you did.”
“Fair point,” agreed Olivia as one of the Goblin Guards pushed Macy out of the way and unlocked the cell door, before two further Goblin Guards manhandled her, and the Spell Keeper inside.
The reunion was finalised with a cluck and a click, as the door closed and locked behind the last Goblin Guard to leave.
The Spell Keeper had been unceremoniously de-bagged and stripped of his cloak, robes and hat which had been exchanged for set of foul smelling black overalls.
Disgruntled, and disgusted, the Spell Keeper lethargically pulled them on, though not before a brief shouting match with the two Goblin Guards who’d taken his original clothing. But at the end of the day arguing was going to get him nowhere. If he didn’t put on the clothing, he wouldn’t have anything to wear.
It was strange the Goblin Guards only took the Spell Keeper’s clothes, and nobody else’s? Maybe they had found out that they concealed more than just his punitive body?
— CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE —
A Captive Strategy
Romulus had been brought to the dungeon cell a short while after Macy and the Spell Keeper and had begun to come around. But still in a state of bewilderment it was decided to leave him alone in one corner, so he could gather his thoughts in his own time... Even Hangaku agreed … though she was worried for his wellbeing. But her fears were soon quelled with a few reassuring words of comfort from the Spell Keeper … especially about her brother’s size. The last time they were together both had been shrunk to less than a quarter of their normal size. But now, with the intervention of both the Spell Keeper for Romulus, and strangely Kraken for Hangaku, both had regained their height.
A small iron bar fortified window fitted high-up on the outside wall of the cell gave just enough of a view to the outside world, with a full moon on display in a darkening sky. It was getting late, though no one had taken much notice of the window or tell-tale sign of nightfall approaching. Everybody had been far too busy swapping stories of what they had been up to whilst apart.
Finally, Romulus, having now, it seemed, made a full recovery from the knockout blow delivered earlier by Gordrick, took it upon himself to call time on the night’s proceedings. Even though he wasn’t tired himself — as he’d been unconscious for hours — he knew everyone else would need a good night’s sleep. But before the Spell Keeper got his head down for the night he let Romulus know about the Chandrapaul tournament he had been signed up for in the morning.
The news of what Gordrick and Kraken had planned for him didn’t leave Romulus in a state of shock as the rest of the group had thought it might. Instead, he seemed pleased — he knew exactly what Chandrapaul consisted of and it held no fear for him. He had also found out from his sister that his parents, Zorax and Helena were safe and well ... though admittedly still in a shrunken state and held in a birdcage somewhere within the vast expanse of Tormencer Castle.
Oddly, Romulus seemed to think that he had been doubly lucky. And the reason for his unconcerned attitude became clear once he had explained the rules behind the game of Chandrapaul to everyone. Of course, Hangaku and the Spell Keeper knew most of the rules already, they were from Tormencer after all, and had witnessed many Chandrapaul tournaments for themselves.
It turned out that Chandrapaul was a type of medieval game of fighting, until your opponent either yielded to the winner or, slightly more bloodthirsty, was killed during the game, fighting for his honour.
The game itself involved two fighters — often prisoners — but not confined to them, pitting their wits against each other in the extremely dangerous sport of jousting. This was contested whilst each fighter rode on the back of a Loomanator whilst holding a two-metre-long lance, made from a lightweight material called Tanium. Tanium was much the same as aluminium but ten times as strong. Failing to conclude the game with lancers, a more sadistic weapon would be called upon. That was when a spike encrusted steel ball and chain and a small shield just big enough to cover an average ribcage would be int
roduced.
As Romulus relayed the rules to the others, it soon became clear why he seemed so unconcerned. The reason, well, he was a dab hand at Chandrapaul. Without having to blow his own trumpet, the prompt intervention of Hangaku soon made everyone aware that Romulus was the top junior Chandrapaul fighter in Tormencer, for his age. It was also noted that if the eventual winner was a prisoner then they would be set free, along with any family or friends.
In short, if Romulus was to win the tournament tomorrow, Kraken would be forced to free, not only him, but all his friends and family. This revelation caused much excitement in the dungeon cell, though Romulus requested that everyone bed down for the night, so they would be fresh and alert for what was to come.
Macy wasn’t for sleeping just yet and brought a crucial point up before anyone could doze off. Her question had to do with the fighter who fought in the game of Chandrapaul. “How can you be the junior champion? You weren’t a prisoner … you were part of a family who ruled this place?”
Romulus acknowledged Macy’s observation. “Yes, you’re right. At the time of my victory, I wasn’t a prisoner. But if you had listened properly to what I said before, you would have heard me mention that Chandrapaul was not just for prisoners,” he said frostily. “Anyone who had a good enough reason to fight—” his eyes glistened, “—or as in my case … if you just liked Chandrapaul, you were eligible to take part.”
Macy sidestepped the accusation that she hadn’t listened fully to what Romulus had said before, and instead threw a chilling question at him. “Did you ever kill anyone?”
“No!” cried Romulus sternly. “Junior Chandrapaul isn’t as barbaric as the adult version. If you knocked your opponent off their Loomanator, you were declared the winner. There’s no need to fight to the death.”
Hangaku had heard enough and was less than impressed with Macy’s question. The last thing she wanted to hear, or think about, was her brother being seriously injured or even killed. Macy apologised for upsetting her and with a tense situation building The Spell Keeper again used his skills as a peacemaker and candidly reminded both girls of the bigger picture they were involved in, namely, their freedom and that of Zorax and Helena.
Macy Vickers and the Book of Spells Page 19
