The Teddy Defenders Trilogy: Books 1-3

by Justin Sloan

  The minotaur prepared to charge Mia when Klide appeared behind it, grabbed a handful of bull-hair, and yanked.

  “YARG!” the minotaur shouted in pain. It turned on Klide to strike, backing him up toward the lava.

  “Any time now,” Klide said, his voice cracking.

  Mia appeared behind the minotaur with the bandana tight in her hands. She jumped onto its back, reached under its neck, and a moment later had the bandana held tight in its mouth like a horse’s reins! The minotaur tried to move, but Mia pulled back, controlling it. The minotaur circled, tried to reach for her, but couldn’t. It charged and she pulled hard, causing the minotaur to turn and slam its head into a large rock. The monster struggled and Mia almost lost her grip, but Ari had finally recovered from his fall and jumped on the minotaur’s back to help. He grabbed the other end of the bandana and pulled. The minotaur roared in exasperation and broke into a run.

  “Klide!” Mia yelled as they passed him.

  Ari reached out with the paw not steering the minotaur and pulled Klide up with them. They barreled through the thorny bushes, past the dogs and more monsters, through intense blackness, until a vast cliff lay before them.

  “Jump!” Klide yelled, and they went flying, rolling on a sandy surface.

  The minotaur continued on, past the ledge and into the seemingly endless pit. Ari and his friends lay in the sand, chests heaving, trying to catch their breaths.

  “He better be worth it,” Mia said between breaths. “This boy of yours.”

  “He... is...” Ari rolled over to stare into the darkness above them. “One thousand times over.”

  Gathering their senses, the bears looked around to see stone bridges, each one thirty feet apart from the next, and each one leading toward a single destination, far off in the darkness.

  “Only place to go from here,” Klide said.

  Ari stood, about to make a move, but he froze. Up ahead dark shapes moved, coming for them. Ari flattened himself, eyes wild.

  THUD! THU-THUD! THUD! Drums sounded, accompanied by a marching song and a low chant. Klide and Mia looked at Ari for an answer and he motioned in the direction of the movement. Ari raised his head to have a look.

  Out of the darkness, a bit of a ways off, forms appeared. First came the monsters, followed by a rattling of chains that bound teddy bears he recognized from the misfit desert and the pits. The monsters led their captives across one of the bridges. Taking up the rear, a hoard of slithering shadow-wisps followed. It was a horrible sight.

  Ari nearly jumped at a yelp from Mia. Klide covered her mouth, but she pulled his hand off and pointed to where a fat bear in a kilt trudged on with the other bears in chains.

  In a whisper, Mia said, “They have my brother!”

  “What will they do with them...?” Ari asked.

  “I’m not waiting to find out.”

  Klide held out a paw to stop her. “No! We don’t stand a chance against so many!”

  “You can risk your lives for those children.” Mia brushed him aside, her face inches from his. “I’m sticking up for our kind. I say we save the bears!”

  She moved toward the monsters, but Ari grabbed her shoulder.

  “Mia, no!” he hissed.

  “You have your quest.” She shoved him off. “I have mine.”

  Ari went for her again, trying to shush her.

  She pushed him harder this time. “LET ME GO!”

  Goblins and orcs turned toward them as Ari stumbled back. He tottered at the edge of the cliff, and then fell over the side and into the deep chasm below.

  Klide reached, but too late. Ari saw him lying above with his paw outstretched, and heard him say to Mia, “What have you done?”

  The air swept past Ari, the rock cliffs around him moving in a blur as he fell. It was almost like flying, except he knew that at any minute he would reach the bottom and slam into the rocks. He thought he heard Mia calling for him, but his head was spinning and the swooshing of air in his ears was deafening.

  Chapter Eighteen: Prison Break

  At the entrance to the dungeon, Rick held Tiffany’s hand. His eyes searched the shadows caused by the flowing lava, looking for any sign of a monster.

  “What if it doesn’t work?” Tiffany asked.

  “It has to.”

  “But what if—”

  “Tiff!” He squeezed her hand tight with both of his. “I need you to be strong right now, okay? Remember that little girl, never afraid? That time you stopped a dog from biting me just by running at it and yelling?”

  “‘Course I do.” She beamed, the fright leaving her eyes.

  “Well, actually that was pretty stupid.” Rick winked at her. “But right now I need you to be like that again, okay?”

  “You want me to be stupid?”

  “I—no... Well, yeah, I guess it is a bit stupid. But right now it’s what we have to do to escape, okay? Let’s just call it brave.”

  Footsteps echoed off the cavern’s stone walls.

  “Now,” Rick said.

  He and Tiffany vanished into the darkness of the prison cell as an orc and goblin appeared at the entrance. The orc undid the locked gate.

  “Losing more every minute....” the orc said to himself, and then turned to the children not in hiding. “Alright you all, two more for recess!”

  The orc locked the gate after the goblin entered.

  “You.” The goblin pointed at Bardy. As he looked around, counting the children, the goblin grew confused.

  “Just in time!” William attempted a cartwheel across the dungeon.

  “What’s this?” the goblin asked.

  “A carnival!” Bardy started juggling dirt clots. “Just for you!”

  The goblin’s face lit up as William started breakdancing. The orc leaned forward with excitement, and Rick knew this was their chance.

  “Get ‘em!” Rick yelled, and the children ran for the goblin, overpowering him.

  “I’m going for backup!” the orc said as it disappeared.

  The goblin reached for him, calling out, “Don’t leave me with these monsters!”

  All fighting paused as the children looked at him like ‘really?’ and then tackled him to the ground, the goblin’s large belly pointed up. All was going according to Rick’s plan.

  The nerdy boy looked to Rick. “Quick, before the other one gets away!”

  Rick ran forward, jumped, and then landed on the goblin’s belly to bounce up to the ledge above. A moment later he was outside the gate, snatching the keys from the orc and dodging his attack.

  “Come on!” Rick said as he opened the gate.

  The children stormed out of the dungeon, a war cry filling the chamber. They ran. The orc tried to grasp them, but they were too much for him. The children dodged sharp rocks and avoided the falling lava as they looked for a way out, the heat even worse out here. In a moment of distraction, the goblin recovered and grabbed hold of Tiffany.

  Rick dived, sliding at the goblin’s legs. The goblin stumbled back and fell butt-first into the lava. Its screams pierced Rick’s ears and a moment later the goblin was running into the distance, holding its butt just like a cartoon monster would have done.

  With just the orc remaining, the children advanced. Rick stepped forward, leering, when a wailing alarm pierced the silence. Now it was the orc that was smiling, as all around them the shadows started to move and morph into shapes like snakes and large beasts.

  The children looked around in terror. Although Rick wanted to tell them all it would be fine, he wasn’t so sure. He tasted the sulfur in the air and felt a trickle of sweat down his back.

  “Now what, genius?” William said.

  Rick grabbed hold of Tiffany, knowing there was only one thing to do.

  “RUN!”

  As they ran, shadow monsters floated out of every direction, rising up with glowing red eyes. Rick stopped, holding Tiffany close as he looked back to see the other children frozen in terror.

  “What do we
do?” Tiffany whispered.

  He looked around, trying to think of a way out of this, but finally hung his head. It was hopeless.

  “That’s the one,” the goblin said as he returned, his rear still smoking.

  Behind him appeared the orc king, an incredibly fat orc with hanging jowls, droopy eyes and a cleaver as tall as himself tied to his back. He stepped up to Rick and in one movement wrapped a chain around him.

  “Looks like you’ve been a bad kid.” The orc king motioned to the other monsters, who followed behind him. “Bring the rest of them to the playing fields. This one needs a time-out.” The orc king pulled Rick after him.

  Tiffany let out a scream and ran for her brother, but the goblin grabbed her by the back of her pajama shirt and held her off the ground so she was running in place. Rick struggled in the chains, calling out his sister’s name. With a yank from the orc king, Rick fell onto his back and found himself being dragged away.

  “Be brave!” Rick tried to push the fright from his eyes as he reached for his sister. “I’ll come back for you.”

  Chapter Nineteen: Flying Friends

  Ari fell through the darkness, knowing it was all over. He had done everything he could, but he had failed. Rick was becoming a monster, and there was nothing to do about it. The thought would have destroyed Ari, if he didn’t know that the ground below soon would.

  A shape appeared above him, aiming for him and falling fast. He turned to squint, and was surprised to see Klide diving after him. A moment later Klide was on him, wrapping Ari in his arms and telling him to hold on tight.

  Ari twisted to see the rock floor approaching, pools of silver-rimmed darkness scattered across the ground. Klide pulled him tight, so all was darkness as they made impact and both lost consciousness.

  A distant coughing woke Ari, and when he opened his eyes, he saw it was Klide, lying on the stone ground nearby. Ari groaned and pulled himself over to Klide, who struggled to breathe.

  “Klide,” Ari said. “Stay with me.”

  “I’ll....” Klide coughed again. “I’ll be okay.”

  Ari helped Klide to sit, but Klide motioned him back. Ari looked to the ledge above, knowing they had lost. “It’s over,” Ari said. “You aren’t going to be okay.”

  Klide’s eyes confirmed it to be true.

  Ari pounded the ground with his fist and yelled. After a moment, he turned back to Klide. “We made it all the way here, all for nothing. All the children will become monsters, and then what will become of our world?”

  “It will become this.” Klide gestured weakly at their surroundings.

  Ari felt himself drained, any remnants of hope completely gone.

  “But….” Klide said, pulling himself to Ari. “I know these pools.” He nodded toward a shadow, one of those puddles of darkness lined with a silver glow. “They're how the monsters enter our world.”

  “How does that help us?”

  “We don’t have to stay here. Look.” He motioned and Ari leaned over a pool and saw a house in its shadowy depths, a small shack. Another pool showed a grand mansion, and another an apartment complex. “There’s always a choice.”

  “You mean run away, only to wait it out? Be safe until our world is filled with shadows?”

  “Aye.”

  “It’s not what Rick would do.” Ari stared into one of the pools and his eyes glazed. “You know, they said you were mad, a loony. I suppose I see it now. That’s no way out, and there’s no way to continue on. What’s the purpose when the light has failed us?”

  Klide held up a paw, his expression stern. “Perhaps I’m mad. But I’ve always believed that the light was never external to begin with, that hope is something that can never be extinguished. It is within.” Klide tried to stand, but fell to his knees, coughing as he struggled to breathe.

  Ari knelt and wrapped an arm around him. “Is there any hope then?”

  “Not for me. My body is giving out.”

  “You said—”

  “The fall took too much from me, Ari. Go, finish your quest.”

  Ari shook his head. “I won’t leave you here.”

  “You don’t have to.” Klide glanced at the nearest pool, and Ari understood.

  Ari helped Klide to the edge of the pool. “Find my house,” Ari said. “Rusty will be there. He’ll know what to do.”

  “Our time is done,” Klide said. “I will accept whatever house I find, and hope beyond hope that you succeed. Farewell.”

  Klide stepped forward, or rather fell forward, into the pool. The image of the house swirled around him like liquid metal as the pool shimmered. Klide twisted back toward Ari with one last smile as he vanished. For a while, Ari stood over the pool, staring into the silvery darkness. He hoped the magic of the pools worked… but he pushed his doubt aside, knowing he would have to have faith to finish his quest.

  Ari turned to the massive cliff behind him, assessing it. For a moment he too considered going the route of the pools. But if Rick still had a chance, Ari couldn’t give up. A winged shadow passed over him. He turned his eyes up to see the wild eyes of the harblin from earlier, the one he saved from the fire.

  Ari braced himself for a fight. “This isn’t the best time.”

  “I didn’t come for a fight,” the harblin said as it swooped down.

  “You talk?”

  “‘Course I talk. The name’s Harpner,” the harblin said. “And I’ve been thinking, you saved me. That didn’t make sense. But I started thinking that not all teddy bears are evil, huh?”

  “Us, evil?” Ari asked, confused.

  Harpner perched on a rock of the cliff. “Not you maybe, no?

  “I’m just here for my boy, Rick, okay?”

  “So you came to take him away and are evil? But you saved me….”

  “What? No, I saved you because it seemed the right thing to do, I don’t want to hurt anything if I don’t have to. And Rick was living happily at home with his family until some Monsters took him, and now he might turn into a monster!”

  “Oh dear....” Harpner turned its eyes to the ground, thinking. “See, I think I believe you. We were all just going about our business, but ’course we wanted children to play with. Then that bear comes and says he has a way to help us. Says he’s turning against the evil bears, and asks if we’ll help him. He promised us children to play with all the time.”

  “He said what?”

  “Only, they didn’t seem to enjoy it as much as we thought.”

  Ari couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Of course they don’t enjoy it! They want their homes, their families.”

  “I see.” Harpner nodded, looking at Ari as if trying to decide whether or not to trust him.

  “Maybe if you approached them nicely, asked if they wanted to play....” Something registered in Ari’s mind. “Wait, what bear said all this to you?”

  Harpner kind of shrugged. “Some big white bear. Don’t know the name, but I can take you to him.”

  “He’s here, now?”

  “Sure. I’ll take you there. It’s the least I could do for you saving me back there. Hop on.”

  Ari hesitated, but he had no other choice. This seemed to be the only way out of there, and if this monster was telling the truth, Ari had to know. He hopped on Harpner’s back and whooped as they rose out of the chasm.

  “We’re coming, Rick!” Ari said as they rose high past ominous rocks and crested the cliff. Soon they passed the now-empty bridge, approaching the dark cave entrance on the far side.

  Darkness gave way to lava spurts and dangerous stalactite formations hanging from the ceiling. As far as Ari was concerned, though, nothing would stand in his way.

  Harpner began to slow, and then pulled to a glide to land on a rock ledge. Ari asked why they had stopped, but Harpner motioned with the tip of his wing to be quiet and pointed. Down below, in a clearing among the rocks and lit by glowing crystals, there appeared to be a gathering of monsters. Goblins, orcs, and shadow monsters faced inward,
surrounded by a ring of giants. In the midst of the monsters were the teddy bears in chains, Mia now among them. She clung to her brother and her eyes, full of fright, darted among the surrounding monsters.

  Chapter Twenty: Reunited

  “This is far as I bring you,” Harpner said. “I don’t understand the happenings here, but for now, I take no sides.”

  “You’ll just stand by and do nothing?” Ari asked.

  “There are others that must be consulted. A decision of sides must be made. I feel a battle brewing.”

  Ari nodded and then bowed his head. “I owe you.”

  “No, we are even. May the shadows be with you.”

  Ari winced. “I prefer the light.”

  “To each their own.” With a silent flash of wings, Harpner flew off into the darkness.

  In the midst of the circle below, Aldis appeared with three grizzly bears. A tingling sensation coursed through Ari as he crouched at his perch, watching. The voices below could just barely be heard.

  “You’ve done well, orc king,” Aldis said.

  The orc king stepped forward. “Aghh, yes, we are pleased.”

  Aldis turned to look at the chained bears, exposing another chained form behind him, bigger than many of the teddy bears, but in a different shape… and wearing red pajamas! It was Rick! Ari had to hold himself back. He leaned closer and saw the tears on Rick’s cheeks. This was too much.

  “Rick!” Ari yelled.

  Everyone turned to him as Ari held his paw over his mouth, instantly regretting his lack of control. Now that he had done it, however, he may as well accept it. He stood and pointed, his face glowing with warmth.

  “This is enough! Release them!”

  Rick struggled, eyes full of hope and wonder. “Ari?”

  Aldis squinted so he could see, then growled. “Ah, you again. I shoulda figured I’d find you with these misfits, this wasted trash.”

  “Don’t listen to him,” Ari said to the bears. “You’re not trash. You never were, and you never will be!”