The Mahogany Door

by Mark Boliek

Chapter 19

  “Crack! Pop! Wham!” echoed through the halls of Warhead Dale. If the children were thinking about coming down from their heightened sugar rush, the sound of large limbs snapping from bushes and trees and shutters slamming against the outside walls put a swift end to that dreamy thought.

  “Oh my, will this Godforsaken storm ever stop?!” I thought to myself as I continued my story. The devastation that must have been happening in the outside world was something I was having difficulty comprehending.

  I felt safe and warm in the big old house that sat on the edge of the sea. I knew that the limbs that crashed into the side of the thick, sturdy exterior walls would not compromise the structure. I was also mindful, however, that I could never take anything, not even a sense of security for granted. Nature has an exacting way of humbling us all.

  I considered again, but only for a second, that I might stop my story right away and lead the children off to bed. I then pondered that I may have overestimated my vanity and trust in the walls of Warhead Dale. I wanted to finish my tale while we were still safe and still had time, because tomorrow is never guaranteed.

  “‘So you must be Charlie,’ JT said arrogantly. He leapt from the carriage and stared down at the now shaking, horrified little man who was hunched over in fright. He shielded his face afraid that JT might strike him. ‘You don’t seem so tough,’ JT chided.

  ‘No, not master,’ the stump of a man said as he backed away continuing to hold his arms over his face. His eyes could only be seen. ‘I’m Tickler, my Majesty’s humble servant. Please, please, follow me and I will take you to my Majesty. Yesss, yesss, I will take you to him.’

  Tickler appeared much older than JT, Michael, and Kali but the top of his head only reached to the middle of JT’s neck. His eyes were as large and round as silver dollars and his nose was twice the size it should have been to fit his face. He had a small, bushy mustache complete with a half shaven beard. Strands of his thick, curly, crumbled black hair darted out from beneath his surprisingly crisp, white turban. He lumbered and limped away from JT, Kali, and Michael, and the ivory carriage rubbing his hands together.

  ‘Yesss, yesss, I will take you to his Majesty!’ Tickler was extremely excited and as animated as his body would let him be. He tried with all of his might, but to no avail, to bound up the stairs before him. Each hop he attempted was cut short by his heavy, lifeless left leg. His foot caught the edge of the step forcing him to his knees. Undeterred, he crawled with his hands up the cracked, faded marble staircase.

  JT panned upward. Another massive structure stood before him. It was a pyramid 300 yards wide and easily 500 feet tall. He concluded that it was the point he could just see from standing outside of the Godwin castle earlier that morning.

  Every few seconds, and with regularity, small pebbles and large chunks of the building fell from its sides. JT thought the entire pyramid might crumble at any second. One large piece the size of a tire barely missed his foot as it crashed right in front of him. It burst; the pieces slapping his leather boots.

  JT, Kali, and Michael followed Tickler into the great pyramid and the inside appeared to be in no better shape than the outside of it. Guards wearing all black emerged out of the shadows carrying large, unsheathed, curved, powerful swords and red flags. They immediately flanked the travelers from Godwin.

  The halls were just as long and imposing as the Godwin castle’s halls, but instead of being encrusted in gold and rich ivory, the walls within the great Triton Pyramid were smudged with filth and grime. The once brilliant brass and silver statues and chandeliers that lined the halls and hung from the ceilings were now tarnished and cracked. There were no noticeable ornate fountains of water or plush gardens of green as there was in the kingdom of Godwin.

  Numerous servants cleaned and polished the surfaces of walls, fixtures, and statues, but it seemed nothing they did could restore the shine and newness.

  Tickler, the guards, and his guests marched hurriedly through a myriad of passageways that twisted and winded through the pyramid. Almost to the point of exhaustion with heavy breaths, they stopped in front of large, oaken, double doors that were three stories tall. A carving decorated its face but the deep, jagged lines that were carved through it rendered it unrecognizable. Someone had not taken too kindly to it.

  ‘My Majesty has been waiting for you,’ Tickler said slithering and spitting every word. ‘Please show him the respect he deserves.’

  JT’s temper flashed but he wrangled his emotions. His madness turned to anxiousness as Tickler reached for the doors. ‘Show him the respect he deserves indeed,’ JT thought.

  Tickler took both of his small, stubby hands and pushed the oaken doors open as if they were light as feathers.

  The hall that opened in front of them was mammoth. It was greater than any room JT had ever stepped in, including any room of Warhead Dale or hall of the Godwin castle. Large, thick columns supporting each of its four corners reached upward and met in a point directly above them. They were standing in the top half of the pyramid.

  Triton subjects lined a black carpet aisle that split the entryway. The vacant path ended at a large stage platform draped with an enormous black curtain hiding its secret. The peoples’ faces were pallid with sunken, dark eyes. The expressions on their faces, though in some ways lifeless and indifferent, could only be described as pain. JT’s heart jumped in his throat. His sudden jolt of confidence in the carriage and anger turned to uncertainty. Michael’s face flushed and again Kali grabbed hold of JT’s hand. The smell of dank wood like that of an ancient church punctured the cold air that filled the room.

  The hunched back of Tickler disappeared, sneaking behind his guests. He pushed and hurried them forward down the aisle. ‘My Majesty is waiting for you,’ said the thick, little man in an ominous tone through a wheezing laugh.

  Horrible silence seeped from the subjects packed in the upper hall, and JT, Michael and Kali, flanked by Triton guards, proceeded toward the curtain in front of them. Their knees became weaker with each step. JT scanned up at the ceiling and observed numerous intense, gruesome battle scenes streaming across each side of the interior walls of the pyramid. The farther these stretched away from the stage, the more faded and fractured they appeared.

  ‘YES!’ a loud, rough voice boomed from behind the curtain as JT, Michael, and Kali were halfway down the black carpet.

  JT frantically swiveled his head from side to side but no one made a sound.

  The group inched their way closer toward the curtain. The voice became louder and more animated. ‘YES! YES! I never thought I’d live to see this moment!’ The voice then started a strange, incomprehensible song using the word, ‘moment.’

  JT thought about Billy and standing outside of Warhead Dale ready to recite the monster’s ridiculous little poem two days ago. The more he thought about it, the less he grew nervous. His temper fired and his anxiety twisted into a raging anger.

  The trio and their escorts made their way to the front of the curtain. The guards formed a human wall a few feet from the stage and lowered their flags. Tickler scurried off to the right, climbed three squeaky steps, and shuffled behind the black curtain and pulled on a flimsy, shredded rope. The curtain opened slowly, its pulleys jerking and whining. When the curtain had finally finished its trek, after what seemed like a nauseating eternity, there before the stunned trio sat the King of Triton.

  “You have got to be kidding me,” mumbled JT.

  Charlie sat lazily lounging upon a throne of gold that had lost its luster for some time. The legs and sides of its back were splintered with jagged cracks; a dark green, thick, moldy crust covered the fractures. The cushions were flat and matted. Their once vibrant red had turned a tinted grayish brown.

  Charlie was as young as the day he had stepped into Bruinduer nine years ago. His face, though babyish, took on the ripeness and wear of age. He was pale, and his hair was a muffled brown and gray under a tarnished bent crown. His eyes, practically void o
f color with only a hint of the original hazel, were sunk next to his round, button nose. His gums were swollen with blood and his teeth were yellow, cavity-filled, and crooked. His once young, soft hands of a fourteen year old were coarse and riddled with calluses, and his fingernails were long, pointed, and stuffed with crusty black grunge.

  He wore a tattered outfit that remarkably but distantly resembled the same silk jacket, knickers, and boots that Michael wore.

  “Hello Michael, King of Godwin. What brings you and these... these people here to my illustrious Kingdom of Triton?” Charlie was very smug, his breath heavy; gesturing his hand toward JT and Kali.

  JT could not take the frustration of being in Bruinduer and his emotions that were swinging like a pendulum. He had had enough of playing this ‘game.’ He jerked his hand from Kali and split the Triton guards lined in front of him. He bounded directly up the stage toward Charlie before Michael could utter a word.

  The crowd in the great hall gasped, and the Triton sentries rushed to aid their king but halted immediately in their tracks as Charlie raised his hands toward them. JT approached unchecked.

  ‘I tell you what we are doing here,’ JT began, his voice piercing the succeeding silence. ‘We’ve come to get you, and we are leaving Bruinduer.’ JT’s nose almost touched the tip of Charlie’s nose.

  ‘He doesn’t believe —,’ Michael began. Charlie waved his hand in Michael’s direction interrupting him. The young King of Godwin became silent.

  ‘Get out of Bruinduer you say?’ Charlie retreated a couple of steps back from JT. ‘Really?’ Charlie sighed and for a second appeared relieved. His head then popped up with a yellow smile. ‘And why on this earth or whatever earth I’m on would I do that?’ Charlie stepped toward the top step to his left and peered over his subjects that crammed his pyramid’s walls and gestured his arms toward them. The people said nothing.

  ‘Bruinduer is going to collapse!’ barked JT. ‘I don’t have time for this! This stupid game everyone wants to play is getting old.’

  Charlie rushed back to JT slapping his feet on top of the stage. His expression grimacing. ‘YOU don’t have time for this? Is that what you said...?’ Charlie’s voice was in rage. The tip of his finger shook as he pointed at JT. ‘I don’t believe I heard what just came out of your mouth. You! Yes you -- don’t have time for this? Let me tell you a little about time.’ Charlie jumped off the top step and darted down the black carpet toward the large double doors. His subjects gasped in excited horror. Tickler emerged from around the curtain and with his left foot dragging behind, trotted behind his Majesty trying to catch up with him. Folding his hands and spitting with every forced breath.

  ‘Charlie, please!’ Kali yelled after Charlie, begging him to calm down.

  ‘Oh, I’ll get back to you and your friends little Ms. Kali. Just hold on for a second.’ Charlie vaulted to the doors.

  ‘Yesss, yesss,’ Tickler hissed. ‘Majesty will get back to you.’

  Charlie stood tall at the doors. He turned forcefully around and pointed on either side of the hall at the battle scenes that decorated the walls. He then marched straight back toward Kali, JT, and Michael; his tattered and faded jacket fluttered and danced with each forced step.

  ‘First battle is called,’ Charlie halted, but only for a second, and pointed at the massive mural to his left, “The Battle of the Beginning.” You guys were here for that - for a little while.’ He moved a few more steps toward the stage and pointed to the right. ‘Second battle is called, “The Battle of the Breekers.” Funny little things Breekers; I have no idea where they came from. I thought after I came through the Mahogany Door, I only had to deal with the world that Michael created. I guess after long periods of time, unexplainable things just pop up like that, but I suspect it was that pathetic spirit guide, Billy, trying to make a play for getting the power back that I took from him.’

  ‘Third battle, fourth battle, fifth battle....’ Charlie recalled battle after battle as he continued his jaunt back along the black carpet. His voice rose with each slam of his foot until he came to rest at the foot of the stage. He scanned to JT. He pointed behind his throne to the back wall. The mural’s strokes seemed fresh. ‘Finally, the last battle called, “The Battle for Godwin.” Michael knows it well.’ The Triton king exhaled an enormous sigh. ‘All spanning, from what I can tell, since time has no meaning here. Let me think, and I’ve counted each sunrise and sunset; a grand total of 150 years.’ Charlie dropped his head and shook it. He then glared back at JT. ‘So forgive me if I don’t particularly care about your lack of time!’ Charlie bounded back up the steps to his right and flopped onto his throne. ‘Now…,’ Charlie said smugly, ‘Why are you really here?’

  ‘I told you. You’re coming with us. We’re going back. Bruinduer is collapsing.’ JT was as serious as he could be. He experienced tunnel vision from his surging anger. Trying to remain calm, he tightened his hands only to have them cramp.

  After a slight pause, Charlie laughed hysterically. Some of the subjects in Charlie’s court, as though commanded, hooted and chuckled until, like a contagious disease, the entire hall exploded with laughter. Tickler fell to the floor screaming with amused hysteria. Like a little pig in mud, he rolled around the black carpet with snot flying from his nostrils that smacked against JT’s boots.

  The laughing continued to roar through the hall, and JT crossed his tipping point. JT leapt at Charlie. This time, Charlie did not stop the guards from pouncing on his angered guest. Just as JT clutched his hands tight around Charlie’s neck, two Triton guards dressed in black dropped their swords, ruffed up, and then tackled JT to the ground with a thunderous thud. Another guard then pressed his sword against JT’s throat.

  For a fleeting second, JT wanted the guard to thrust his blade and kill him. He had had enough of Bruinduer and his situation. He didn’t want to believe that his grandfather may have lied to him, but with the helplessness he felt, the thought occurred that the old soldier did. He even tried to come to grips that the vision he saw was only that, a hope to see his grandfather. He was tired of Michael and his whining, his fake leadership, and his reluctance to do - do anything to see just his side of the circumstance. And he was tired of Kali’s indifference to it all.

  He was tired of thinking about Billy and where he might be. If the monster was the so-called spirit guide in this world, why was he not guiding them now? He especially was tired of all the questions that rummaged and scattered his brain while trying to discover someone he finally concluded that he would never meet, himself. He felt it didn’t matter anyway. Who would really care if he was gone in the first place?

  Then something strange but familiar happened. JT’s thoughts scrambled and then his mind went blank. The thought appeared that he had either finally or totally lost his mind, or worse -- the sword the Triton guard brandished had done its work and he lay dying.

  An amber mist covered the hall that transformed right before his eyes. It was in immaculate condition. The tarnished chandeliers hanging from the ceiling beamed a brilliant yellow from their polished gold. The carpet was red, and the purple and pressed robes the people wore draped perfectly over their shoulders. He noticed a younger Michael and Kali, maybe not in years but definitely more jubilant in their moods, now running around a decorated, shining throne. He only caught a fleeting glimpse of Charlie who disappeared off to the right. He then heard a strange voice echo through his ears.

  ‘His destiny,’ he heard. The sound of the words glided through his mind like a nightly spring breeze on the farm and put him at ease. As his body released its tension, he heard it again, ‘His destiny in Bruinduer must be finished.’

  JT was confused and curious. Had he died? Who was telling him this? The voice was not familiar. He panned around to see if he could see the source of the voice, but his vision turned pitch black.

  A very familiar voice, the voice of Charlie cracked the silence, ‘Enough!’

  JT felt the blood rush to his head. He jerk
ed awake and found himself face down in the carpet. He inhaled a nose full of dust and sand that smelled like old, molded socks. He coughed and gagged. The Triton soldiers pulled him to his feet. His head dangled lifeless in front of him, his chin planted in his chest.

  ‘I’ve had enough today!’ Charlie folded his legs in his throne and placed his elbows on his knees. His subjects fell to their knees and bowed their heads with reverent affection. ‘It is time to eat and rest. Bring the visitors with me and we shall dine in my quarters.’ The guards rushed Kali, JT, and Michael by dragging and pushing them to Charlie’s side.

  Tickler hurried, his leg dragging behind him. He rubbed his hands hard together and labored to the side of the curtain and pulled on the weak rope once more. The curtains slowly closed and JT thought he heard the Triton subjects sob with sadness as Charlie and his visitors disappeared behind the black, draping cover.

  Charlie rose from his throne very confidently with a smug smirk. He fronted JT whose arms were held against his back by the guards. JT felt the iciness of Charlie’s breath as his sigh engulfed his cheek.

  ‘It’s OK, JT. Nothing will happen to you here.’ Charlie whirled around and flung his robe to his side. ‘At least - yet.’ Charlie stomped off. ‘Bring them to my quarters and bring the food. They must be hungry.’

  Charlie halted quickly and peered annoyingly down at Tickler biting his lip. The small servant was slobbering all over the front of his jacket and rubbing his hands raw. ‘And Tickler,’ Charlie began, ‘try not to spit on our guests’ dinner. That is just so… so… well, you know….’

  Charlie flicked his wrist. Tickler nodded profusely and he and one of the larger guards rushed to the left. As they scurried off, Tickler panted like a dog.

  ‘It’s just so hard to find good help around here,’ Charlie scoffed sarcastically and marched briskly through the pyramid.

  JT, Kali, Michael, the two Triton guards, and Charlie winded their way through endless, maze-like hallways. All appeared exactly the same. Four tarnished brass oil lamps burned on either side of two doors. Michael noticed a pattern emerge where he counted four lamps, took four steps, and then turned to either his left or his right. (The pattern that appeared was as follows: lamp, door, lamp, lamp, door, lamp, turn.)

  About ten minutes passed and Charlie suddenly stopped in front of an ornate door with a gold leaf attached to its center. The young Triton monarch whispered to his guests, ‘Here.’

  He then reached his hand forward, twisted the doorknob, and flung the door open and yelled. ‘Welcome to my humble abode!’

  The room was lit by faded, muck-covered crystal chandeliers and was quite large. It felt as though it had been an addition and not an original part of the pyramid structure. There was a large pile of rocks set in a deep pit in the middle of the trapezoidal room. On top of the massive mound of rocks, eye level to the dinner guests, was a thick, stone gray chest.

  A circular gap of fifteen feet separated the marble floor that the dinner party stood on and the chest. Polished, marble steps led down to the mound of rocks sitting in the enormous bowl and a spiral, stone staircase wrapped and climbed the heap of rocks to its top, leading to the base of the coffer.

  Once magnificent rugs now matted down and grimy covered the top marble floor. Furniture, old and rotted, lay strewn about in no particular design or arrangement. Across the chamber, JT could see a massive, golden bed that was lodged inside of a cubby nook that was draped and stacked with dirty blankets and pillows.

  To JT’s left waiting for them, were two more Triton guards, long curved swords by their sides, and Tickler still rubbing his stubby, little hands together. They stood beside a long, smooth, stone table that easily sat twelve people, but was only set with four place settings. The plates were heaped high and dripping with food. A surprising number of beautiful flower arrangements, bursting with fantastic colors, adorned the table from end to end.

  The room exploded with the smell of cooked beef and vegetables with the underlying fragrance of tulips. JT welcomed the smell, but he could still make out the foul stench of the great hall dancing allusively in his nose.

  ‘Please,’ Charlie charmed, ‘make yourself at home. You’re welcomed here.’ The monarch very quickly and gracefully made his way to the head of the table and attacked his seat. Tickler moved just as fast behind Charlie, panting, eager to serve his master. The small man placed a napkin in his Majesty’s lap.

  ‘You’re still going with me,’ JT said; his voice packed with animosity.

  ‘Oh, JT. Where are my manners?’ began Charlie. ‘Guards, release him from your clutches and let him go and wash up for dinner. I don’t want him to think that I’d forgotten about him.’

  The guards released JT and motioned him toward the small room that contained the massive bed. JT entered a small bathroom off to one side within the nook. After he had washed and dried his face and hands he glanced into the mirror. For the first time since he had transformed into his younger self, he saw his face clearly and just how young he looked. ‘Had he really been that young before?’ he thought to himself. His thoughts then changed. He couldn’t get the sound of the whisper he had heard in the great hall of the pyramid out of his brain, ‘His destiny must be finished.’

  He then recalled the issues Michael was having and their earlier conversations. Michael told him that it was his destiny to go back to Bruinduer, but as JT pondered about the voice and its message, he wondered if it was Charlie who needed to finish his destiny. The young Triton monarch seemed to be in a very sad state of sordid affairs. His kingdom was crumbling right before his eyes and he was obviously consumed by the power he had taken from Billy. Maybe it was the young Triton king and not Billy reaching out to JT through his thoughts, secretly hoping that JT would save him from the devouring crush of the stolen Essence’s power.

  Or, was it Michael sending thoughts to him, reminding JT that it was he that still needed to fulfill his destiny, and in reality needed his help? It was Michael after all that told him he brought the wind that guided him and Kali from the desert into Godwin.

  JT shook his head to clear his mind and delicately exited the bathroom. He tripped over a matted, dirty piece of carpet that covered a small section of the floor. He reached forward to gain his balance, and he leaned into a lever. There was a faint clicking sound and the stone wall behind Charlie’s bed split and revealed a floor-to-ceiling clear glass opening.

  The faint twilight of the set Bruinduer sun illuminated the glass opening a brilliant blue, and JT squinted. He then heard a roar come from his right side. As his eyes adjusted to the tinted dusk, he walked to the glass wall and saw something extraordinary.

  Below him was an open courtyard, its grounds and benches, and gardens and paths were battered by time and neglect. The courtyard ran to the very edge of a large crevasse even more magnificent than the crack that split the Bruinduer Desert of Share into the lands of Godwin and Triton. Just behind the ravine, a large beautiful, powerful waterfall poured into it. The water flowed and crashed into the crevasse effortlessly like the wind blowing through a field. JT’s eyes widened with amazement and as he put his hands to the windowed wall he could feel its power rumble through the glass.

  A mysterious bang rang across the floor and JT woke from his mesmerized state. He walked out of the small inner room and the stone wall slid shut and JT was stopped in his tracks. He turned to face the bed, and all around him, was a very disturbing site.

  On the stone walls surrounding the bed were counting marks. The lines were grouped by five with four marks vertical and one mark slashing across the others. After studying the groupings for a few moments, they appeared as though they were in uniformed rows and columns and seemed to have started from the top right corner across from where JT stood and dressed each of the three walls entirely. The neatly stacked groupings stopped to his left just above his ankle directly beside him. The last grouping of marks was only four vertical lines. As each collection of marks receded and labored down the
walls, the lines became shakier, jagged, and deep. A sense of sorrow penetrated JT’s body. His heart sank and he felt powerless. He remembered Charlie stating in the great hall of the Triton pyramid that he had counted each day he had been in Bruinduer and in his bed chamber is where he had done the deed.

  JT remained silent as he returned to the stone table. Charlie eyed him and looked as though he knew what JT had seen on the walls by his bed. His expression told JT he purposefully sent him to that bathroom to wash his face and hands. He wanted him to see the penetrating marks of time that he could not control. JT also thought about Michael and what he had said earlier. He now knew why it was important to have a timepiece at your side in Bruinduer. Charlie had been locked in a seemingly, endless age that would never halt.

  ‘Everything happens for a reason,’ said Charlie as he took a huge gulp of water from his cup. A bead of sweat rolled down his pallid cheek.

  JT took his place at the table with Michael on one side, Charlie on the other, and Kali across from him. The food was spectacular. Michael politely partook in the dinner and Kali did her best not to burst into tears as she gently ate the food from her plate. JT could see that the events of the day and the silence she displayed had just about taken their toll on her. She was visibly shaken and JT noticed fear in her eyes about what might happen to them in their remaining time in Bruinduer. It was positive they had not expected the time they spent in the Vryheid land to have unraveled the way it did.

  JT was hungry and thought that if he was here that he might as well not be shy about eating something. He wouldn’t know if it would be his last meal or not. He reached for his goblet of water and lifted it to his mouth. As he took a sip of the crisp, cool liquid, he was taken aback from the taste. The water passed his lips and hit the inside of his cheeks as though skaters on a freshly frozen pond had suddenly stopped and kicked up a fresh trail of ice. He had not tasted anything like it before.

  Charlie could see that JT was enjoying his cup of water. ‘Pretty good isn’t it?’ Charlie said with a slight chuckle. ‘It comes from that great miracle, the waterfall, you just happened to see when you peered onto my garden grounds from my chamber.’

  JT, not wanting to say anything positive about Charlie or the fantastic water he possessed, held his tongue.

  ‘Oh, come on JT! It’s just me, your old friend Charlie. You can tell me you like it. The people of Godwin sure like it. It’s their only source.’

  JT tried not to answer, but the water was tremendous. He couldn’t help himself. ‘Yes,’ JT said. His voice was very low. ‘It’s quite good.’

  The dinner went on for ten minutes or more. Knives and forks clanged against the white porcelain china and the group around the table kept their mouths full of hot, satisfying food and crisp, cool drink while keeping their eyes down and fixed upon their plates. Except for Charlie, who looked around unyielding and laughing talking about battles he had participated in with no regard to his guests about their gruesome description. Besides Charlie, no one said a word.

  JT had just about taken his last bite of meat when Charlie started to clink his knife against his golden cup.

  ‘To my friends who are returning to take me back home,’ Charlie raised his cup to each of his guests, ‘even though their attempt will be futile.’ Charlie swiftly took a long gulp of his water and slammed the goblet on the table.

  ‘What an idiot,’ Kali mumbled under her breath.

  ‘What was that my sweet, young lady?’ asked Charlie as though he were interrogating her. ‘What did you say?’

  ‘You’re an idiot!’ Kali beat her fists on the table. ‘If you would have just left it alone, you wouldn’t be here - we wouldn’t be here. But no, you had to be a stupid idiot and take it!’ Kali’s exhaustion was evident and she had had quite enough. She had held her tongue long enough.

  ‘Touché, my sweet red-haired beauty, and don’t think I had forgotten about what I said later about getting back to you.’ Charlie suddenly sat back into his chair and crossed his legs.

  ‘Why I wonder, oh why I wonder why these two are even here?’ Charlie peered at Michael whose eyes were still planted into his plate. ‘I thought you said you took care of them?’ Michael did not look up. He took a long, nervous bite of food from his plate. ‘I’m asking you a question, mighty King of Godwin.’

  ‘Yesss, my Majesty is asking you a question,’ echoed Tickler.

  ‘I thought they were dead,’ answered Michael sheepishly.

  JT didn’t want to believe what he had heard. Michael had planned for them to die. Kali coughed and choked on her food. She spit out a piece of beef she had just placed in her mouth.

  ‘Apparently you were wrong,’ explained Charlie with no concern in his voice.

  ‘Yesss - Majesty knows you were wrong.’ Tickler rubbed his hands and bowed up and down quickly toward Charlie.

  ‘I thought that three years wandering in the desert would have been long enough for them to expire. I sent an innocent command on the wind to JT to come to my castle through my powers as the first from Eden (the first through the Mahogany Door) after those three years. I needed to make sure they were dead. I had no intention of them showing up. Certainly my command would have fallen on deaf ears. I was just as surprised as you when they did.’ Michael’s cup shook in his right hand as he nervously drank from it. He spilled half of his water down the front of his silk jacket. As he placed the cup back on the table, his hand shook so violently that he knocked the goblet over on its side. ‘They thought Billy had rescued them.’

  Charlie slammed both of his fists heavily down on the table. The force was so powerful that the utensils jumped off the plates and crashed back down on them. ‘That name has no meaning here!’ Charlie’s blood boiled and his face turned bright red as the veins in his neck popped out appearing like flowing streams. It was the first color JT had noticed in him. ‘He is forgotten!’ Charlie yelled.

  ‘I tried to tell them Most High, King of Triton.’ Michael’s tone turned submissive. ‘But - they didn’t believe me.’

  Charlie thrust his chair forcibly from under him and bounced down the bowl of marble stairs and sprinted up the circular stone staircase that wrapped around the heap of rocks in the center of the room to the stone chest.

  It took him a while, but Tickler followed his king to the top of the mound of rocks, dragging his leg up the staircase. As he came to rest next to Charlie, the small servant struggled for breath and fell to his knees in exhaustion. ‘Majesty is the… the… the greatest - huh -- huh -- leader ever to be alive - huh -- huh.’

  ‘Do you have any idea what it feels like to be totally alone?!’ Charlie screamed at the top of his voice toward his guests who were still stunned and seated at the stone table.

  Kali made a slight huffing sound and JT cocked his head to one side. JT felt his temper spike because he began to feel sympathy for Charlie. He knew exactly how it felt to be totally alone since he sat in his small bedroom, year after year on the farm, staring out the window and wondering who he was and where he came from, with nothing but a high school diploma as his proof. Michael continued to eat the final bites of his meal as though Charlie’s ranting was nothing new to him.

  ‘Let me be frank!’ Charlie barked. ‘My good friend the King of Godwin has heard this before, but let me fill you in on what happened after you left me here to rot!’

  ‘Yesss, my Majesty is really frank,’ Tickler said fighting to get to his feet and brushing the rubble from his pants.

  Charlie stopped, turned, and penetrated Tickler with an evil stare. ‘Would you PLEASE shut up?’

  ‘Yesss, sorry my Majesty. I will do as you command.’ Tickler slunk back down the circular path a few steps with his head hung low.

  ‘Now - where was I?’ Charlie said as he began to walk circles around the stone chest. JT clutched the tablecloth holding his temper at bay. He felt like jumping down the bowl of steps and up to Charlie’s face, but he did not want to risk being attacked by the guards. ‘Oh - ye
s. I believe the painted walls of the great hall call it, The Battle of the Beginning. What a dreadful, wonderful day that was. I remember the heat like it was yesterday.’ Continuing his pace and circling around the chest, he clasped his arms behind his back. He swiveled his head back and forth, peering to the rocky ground and then back toward his guests.

  ‘The day was very hot like I mentioned, much like it is everyday in the desert, but the army Michael conjured up to protect us from our competitors, began to pick sides. An argument of some sort ensued and somebody didn’t want to do what someone else wanted them to do. It was very confusing like most conflicts.’ Charlie stopped and placed his hand on his heart. ‘When, in my opinion, without provocation, one soldier in the other army killed another soldier from the one that Michael created. Then war broke out all around us. It was pandemonium.’ Charlie grabbed his arms behind his back and stared at the ground beneath his feet. His face turned somber and it was apparent that the events of that day still resonated and lived in the Triton king and he thought about them constantly. After a few moments, he lifted his head. ‘To make a long story short, I ended up lying on my back. I saw a hazy white light and heard yelling and screaming from those in pain. I felt my hot blood ooze down my arm. I smelled death around me and then I heard familiar voices; voices of… of… friends.’ There was a pause, and Charlie’s face turned angry. ‘The voices came closer and were panicked. I felt someone pulling on my arm. I heard another scream and then a loud slamming noise like a door closing. My arm fell limp to the ground. Everything around me went black; then -- nothing. It was as though time stopped. I felt as though every part of my soul had been ripped from my body.’ Charlie shook his head. ‘I was alone.’

  ‘It didn’t have to happen that way!’ Kali yelled as she jumped from her chair. Her heart pounded and her hands reached for something to grab on to the table, but she could only form fists. ‘I told you, if you hadn’t have taken –’

  ‘What?!’ interrupted Charlie. ‘Taken what?’ Charlie reached for the stone chest that was propped on its stone pedestal. Charlie pressed a button on the back of the chest, and the lid lifted easily and carefully. Bright light erupted and exploded in the room. Every corner and exposed surface of Charlie’s room was illuminated in a golden, yellow light. Charlie began to smile, his eyes widened. ‘What? This?’ A platform rose from the bottom of the chest lifting something with it. As the hidden object ascended to the top, JT and Michael rose from their chairs.

  Michael began to lick his lips and his heart pounded in his chest. His hands quaked with excitement. JT thought he saw Michael start to reach and slightly lunge toward Charlie and the chest.

  JT rubbed his eyes. Did he really see what he was looking at? He had heard Kali talk about it when they first made it through the Mahogany Door, but he could have never imagined that the object she named could be so beautiful and have such affect on his emotions. He felt hunger for the object. His jaw dropped. Before him and the rest of the group, on the platform in full view from the stone chest, sparkling, beaming, flaming, and calling was the Golden Diamond.

  The stone, itself, was not that large. It was about the size of two hands clasped together in the shape of a pyramid. The four sides of the diamond were perfectly smooth and if it could be considered an imperfection, a jagged ribbon of gold dissected its middle.

  ‘To tell you the truth, Kali,’ Charlie began to speak again. ‘This little thing you accuse me of taking actually saved my life.’ Charlie picked the brilliant stone from its perch not flinching from the intense light it released. He gazed upon the diamond as though he had seen it for the first time.

  ‘Like you, they thought I was dead.’ Charlie placed the diamond back on the platform gingerly. ‘The cleaners, as they were called then, carried off the dead after the war ended.’ Charlie began to pace around the chest blocking the light as he passed in front of his guests still standing at the table casting his silhouette. ‘Don’t ask me how or why the war stopped, because I have no idea. The next thing I knew I was laying on some sort of stone like altar. My head was swimming and hurting. I regained my senses and out before me, there were hundreds maybe thousands of people gazing up at me.

  I would find out that the survivors of the Battle of the Beginning were burning their dead. I also later discovered that they thought I had been dead for three days.

  I climbed to my feet onto the altar and I felt eyes piercing and burning through me with wonder and amazement. Though thousands stared, I felt alone.

  I then reached in my pants because I felt a lodging pain - I don’t know why they didn’t search me - but I felt the Golden Diamond by my thigh. I lifted it high above my head.’ Charlie replayed the act by snatching the diamond from its platform with both hands. ‘The people fell to their knees immediately and worshiped me. It was at that moment I became king.’

  Charlie placed the Golden Diamond back onto the platform. He touched the button on the back of the stone chest again, and the lid closed. Charlie, with Tickler close behind him, circled down the stone stairwell and lazily made their way back up to the stone table. Kali, Michael, and JT stood silently. The young Triton king shuffled and slid behind Kali and grabbed her around the waist. He whispered in her left ear just loud enough so Michael and JT could hear him.

  ‘But I waited. I waited for my friends. I even waited for that worthless spirit guide, Billy. I even found myself calling out to him, but he never came -- just like you; no one ever came.’ Charlie then addressed the entire room, ‘The only thing that came was more war and more pain. You saw those paintings in the great hall.’ Charlie then quickly switched to Kali’s right ear and whispered again, ‘But you know what I did my dear? I didn’t only become a king - oh no - I stopped believing in Billy and took his power.’ Charlie paused. ‘I became a god.’

  Kali spun around and slapped Charlie. Charlie stood stunned and amazed. His eyes reddened, bloated with tears. Just as quickly, however, his amazement turned to anger.

  ‘Michael, King of Godwin, leave!’ Charlie stabbed Michael with burning eyes that singed his soul.

  ‘Yesss- the King of Godwin must leave at once. Majesty is very displeased,’ Tickler hissed and grabbed Michael’s arm. Two of the Triton guards brandished their swords and rushed Michael out of the grand Triton Pyramid.

  ‘Take the other two to the dungeon and hang them up. I will deal with them later,’ Charlie announced as he snapped his fingers.

  JT lunged at the guards who grabbed Kali, but he was no match for the strength of the Triton guards. They roughed JT up and slammed him to the ground, and then yanked him to his feet. They cuffed Kali and JT’s hands in front of them in tough, thick rope restraints and led them out of Charlie’s chamber.

  As they were pushed and prodded out of the room, Charlie yelled in their direction, ‘Oh, and JT, don’t think Billy is coming for you!’ Charlie’s anger was now almost giddiness. ‘Don’t think that Bruinduer is collapsing either. All those dreams you had are just the signs of a sad, pathetic, forgotten spirit that wants its power back. I’m in control here - and you and your little girlfriend won’t soon forget it.’

  ‘You’re still going back with me!’ JT barked back though he was defeated at the moment. ‘Whether you want to or not!’

  ‘Keep wishing that JT. The only way I’m going to leave here is if I really die!’ Charlie’s voice cracked into a high-pitched laugh.

  The guards escorted Kali and JT down more winding, bare hallways that all seemed identical, and then stopped in front of two large ebony doors. When the doors were cracked open they exposed a long, black tunnel.

  The stench of rotting flesh and sour mold smacked JT in the face. His head flung back in retreat of the smell. Kali gagged and coughed as the odor scorched her nostrils. The guards, not affected by the smell, dragged them roughly down thirty stairs and the bit of light that shone behind them from the cracked open doors dimmed as they went deeper and deeper into the black hole. The guards suddenly opened another rugged, heav
y, solid and barred door and tossed JT and Kali inside the cell. Very efficiently, they hung JT and Kali’s tied hands onto large rusted, tarnished hooks at the bottom of two long rigid iron rods that hung from the dripping ceiling on either side of the room. The rods of the hooks were just long enough that the two prisoners were forced to fall on their knees into a puddle of rotten, nauseous water after their ropes were hung. The guards then maliciously clasped the hooks together, trapping the ropes making it impossible for Kali and JT to stand up.

  The smell was horrible and as JT landed he felt jagged stones slash into his kneecaps. He tried to get comfortable, but the pain became worse as he rolled about trying to find any relief. The thick, chunky water entered through the top of his boots and soaked his feet. He felt tiny bugs crawl between his toes burrowing under them trying to find warmth.

  JT tried to leap to his feet immediately, but it was no use. As he tried to stand, the wire that held the hook he was dangling from pulled tight, slamming his knees back onto the rugged floor. He heard Kali start to cry.

  The guards left the cramped cell with jesting, apathetic words towards their prisoners, and just before the door slammed behind them, JT heard the memorable sound of a small leg dragging. The sound became distorted as the owner found a small puddle of water, but JT knew it was Tickler.

  ‘Majesty has always done the right thing…’ Tickler’s hissy voice sliced the stale stench. Charlie must have been right in front of him because there was an instant answer.

  ‘Thank you Tickler. You have always been a loyal servant even though you are quite the bother.’

  ‘Majesty is right to be mad at humble Tickler. I only want to serve you,’ he groveled, spittle shooting from his lips.

  ‘That’s enough Tickler... Commander, come here,’ Charlie called to the Triton guard that was about to lock JT and Kali’s dungeon cell.

  ‘Yes, my Majesty,’ the guard responded with a deep, rough, groaning voice.

  ‘Tomorrow morning I want you to gather the army; the entire army.’ Charlie paused a moment, thinking. ‘Then I want you to shut the water off to Godwin.’

  ‘Of course my Majesty.’ The guard pulled tightly on the door’s handle. Turning his key, the lock sealed with a loud crack. JT still heard Tickler and Charlie clearly through the small, barred window.

  Tickler laughed and jeered as he hissed, ‘Yesss - Majesty wants the entire army.’

  Dread filled the damp, musky, cold dungeon as Charlie commanded the Triton sentry. JT’s mind emptied as his nemesis’s words hit his ears, ‘Once the troops are assembled - kill them - kill them all.’”