Arboria

by Anthony Stefano

  “You’re mad!” said Hope, “the town is in the Queen’s hands. You’ll be captured.”

  “I need to focus. I have to go and see for myself.”

  “Fine, do what you want, but know that I don’t approve.”

  Annoyed, she moved away from him.

  “Tell Meredith and Amy!”

  Alexander set off in the direction of the mountains of Sylum. The same thought raced around his head throughout the whole journey... were they all dead? Had his friend really perished? Suddenly, it was night. A comet that was doubtlessly Zgard sped through the sky at full speed. Alexander advanced carefully through the forest. The weather was beginning to change; it was turning cold and the terrain was becoming more and more hilly. Soon, the snow appeared. It was still night, but the moon shone down bluish light on the ground. One of the towers of the Synerum was still visible in the distance, which comforted Alexander. That tower was still standing, which meant that not all hope was lost, he told himself. But the joy was short-lived. The damage done to the town itself was also significant. The place was in ruin. The tower that was still standing was damaged, but the second was in rubble on the ground. All around him, pieces of the ice buildings were blackened, no doubt as a result of the fire from the battle.

  “You! How dare you return here?!” said a voice coming from a creature searching for food in the ruins.

  “Glacius? What are you doing here?”

  “I have been in this town for ten years, it is my town, I will never abandon it.”

  “It’s difficult to abandon your town, but your own brother who fought to defend it, that was much easier wasn’t it?”

  “I was tricked by that infernal Sorceress. She promised peace between the Orpes of Ice and Fire; I accepted the sacrifice of my brother so that peace could reign at the Synerum.”

  “Were there any other survivors?”

  “Yes, some Ice Orpes survived.”

  “And your father Celastrus?”

  “We buried him in the cathedral where all our kings rest.”

  “What happened to Antarus?”

  “He survived. No doubt he is now the prisoner of the Queen, but I do not know where.”

  Alexander was relieved. Antarus was alive. Finally, a piece of good news since we came back, he thought.

  “What are you going to do now?”

  “We are going to try and take back our civilisation, but there is little chance that we will get our lives back such as they were. The Sorceress dealt us a killing blow.”

  “What are you going to do with me? Am I your prisoner?”

  “You are not my enemy. My only enemy now is that accursed self-proclaimed Queen the Sorceress.”

  “If one day we decide to fight the Sorceress, can we count on your help and the help of the Ice Orpes?”

  “It would be a pleasure to fight that terrible Sorceress. You can count on us, even if the fight is a losing one from the beginning. We have nothing more to lose anyway.”

  Glacius continued searching the surrounding area and moved away from Alexander.

  “Thank you, Glacius.”

  Alexander returned to Between-Two-Rocks. At Eolmuth’s home, he told of his journey to his friends and the dwarfs.

  “My God, that’s horrible,” said Meredith, “The Synerum was such a beautiful place.”

  “The important thing is that the Ice Orpes will fight at our side.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Hope, “you want to fight the Sorceress and her army?”

  “I don’t know,” Alexander replied, “but we have to cover all the bases.”

  “We would have to start by finding Antarus,” said Hope.

  “Yes, we have to go and help him,” said Amy.

  “We don’t even know where he is at the moment.”

  “Is the Sorceress holding him at Avengard?”

  “We have no idea.”

  “What is your plan?” asked Eolmuth.

  “We have to find Dongo and find out if he knows where Antarus is. Dongo always knows what’s going on in Arboria and he can ask the trees if they have seen Antarus.”

  “And then?” said Eolmuth, intrigued.

  “We know that the Sorceress is keeping Golmuth at Avengard; we will have to get him out beyond its walls, but I don’t know how right now. My friends and I will set out for Numera tomorrow, we have to find Dongo.”

  The next day, Alexander, Hope, Meredith and Amy made for Numera. They followed the map Eolmuth had drawn on a piece of parchment. The journey took several days, the rain fell continuously and the water ran in streams along the path and turned them muddy. Their feet were soaked and Alexander’s white shoes were stained brown. They took shelter beneath a tree and fell asleep beside one another.

  “My sister is asleep,” said Hope.

  “Meredith too.”

  “Do you think we will be able to save Golmuth and get home safe and sound? I really want to see my parents again.”

  “I know, Hope. Don’t worry, everything will be alright, I promise.”

  “Ok, I trust you, you’re a good person Alexander.”

  Hope rested her head on his shoulder and fell asleep.

  An earthquake woke the children at dawn. They jumped up. The ground shook again, and a ginger-haired dwarf riding an enormous animal burst out of the ground nearby.

  “Silmaril!” cried the children.

  “Children, I finally found you.”

  He clambered down from his mount and greeted the children. Alexander hugged his friend tightly and stroked the animal.

  “I missed you at Between-Two-Rocks. Eolmuth told me everything, and I set off to find you because I have some interesting news for you.”

  “What is it?”

  “Eolmuth tells me you are looking for Antarus. He is being held by the Fire Orpes at Vulcania.”

  “He’s alive! That is good news!” said Meredith.

  “Damn,” said Hope, “this is going to be difficult.”

  “Yes, it will not be easy. Come on, climb up onto Kira’s back and we shall talk on the way. I will take you to Numera.”

  They climbed up onto the animal’s back and it immediately began carving out a tunnel. Several hours later, they came to the surface in the centre of a clearing surrounded by trees. The children were astounded by the beauty of the place. The grass was a vibrant green, the plants were perfectly tended and the paths were bordered by flamboyantly coloured flowers. Trees of all shapes and sizes surrounded the village, as did bushes carefully trimmed into the shapes of various animals.

  “This is paradise,” said Amy.

  “It’s wonderful,” said Hope, her mouth open.

  At the sight of the children, the Elwings stopped working and began to flee in a panic.

  “No, don’t go!” shouted Alexander, “we mean you no harm!”

  “Have no fear,” said one of the Elwings, “I know these people, they are my friends.”

  “Dongo!” cried the children.

  They took the little Elwing into their arms and squeezed him tight in greeting.

  “No, I do not think I shall ever get used to this human custom of suffocating your friends,” said the Elwing.

  “Sorry, but we are just really happy to see you again,” said Alexander.

  “Follow me, I will show you my home.”

  Silmaril and the children followed Dongo while the Kirantorus allowed itself to be fawned over by the other Elwings.

  “Kira, stay here,” Silmaril told it.

  They walked to a little hut made from wood and dried plants. The house was incredibly small; the children and the dwarf had to stoop to squeeze through the door. The home consisted of a single room, as the majority of the Elwings generally lived outdoors. Dongo served his friends and strange coloured drink before they sat down to talk.

  “That is water collected from a tree called a Humaya, it is very good.”

  The children described their journey to Dongo and explained their return to Arboria in detail. />
  “I also have something important to tell you, children. I have discovered a terrible secret about the Sorceress. She wants the trees to march again, and she wants them to join her army.”

  “Is that possible?” asked Meredith.

  “An Elwing named Decro told me. You remember him, he was in the group of Elwings we rescued from Avengard. The Sorceress had ordered them to create a potion capable of acting on the roots of trees so that they could move about and fight. She would have a gigantic and unconquerable army. I admit that I do not know why she is doing that; she already rules over all of Arboria, she has no need of such a great army.”

  “She wants to invade our world and get her revenge,” said Alexander.

  “Revenge on what?” replied Dongo.

  “She is not originally from Arboria, that’s what Werner told me before he died. She used to live in our world but she was condemned to death. She crossed through the portal when she was running away through the woods and ended up here. Now she only thinks about one thing... getting revenge on those who condemned her.”

  “It is out of the question that we allow her to return to our world with the powers and the forces that she has here,” said Meredith.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “We have to free Golmuth and destroy the portal,” said Alexander.

  “Do you have a plan?”

  “Not really,” replied Hope.

  Dongo gazed up at the ceiling deep in thought.

  “I have one, but it is very risky. I will tell you something that very few people in Arboria are aware of.”

  The children listened carefully to Dongo, sensing that he was going to share a terrible secret with them.

  “There is a tree called Ramenor, it is the oldest tree in Arboria. It is guarded by the Queen’s soldiers. It is thanks to this tree and the sap she collects from it that she is able to brew the immortality potion that she feeds to her henchmen via the sarcophagus wrapped in roots in her castle in Avengard. If we question that tree, it might reveal its secret and we might be able to put an end to the Sorceress’ immortality. She would be made vulnerable.”

  “Where is this tree?” asked Alexander.

  “Near High-View, but it is very well guarded, it is impossible to get near. At least not without a diversion... a very big diversion.”

  “What do you mean by a very big diversion?” asked Silmaril, who had not spoken until that moment.

  “We have to draw Queen’s attention away and lead her army to a spot sufficiently far away from Ramenor so I can get close and speak to it.”

  “The only way to get the Queen to move her army is to start a fight,” said Silmaril.

  “Exactly,” Dongo replied.

  “Impossible, her army is too powerful. We would be crushed in an instant.”

  “I did not say that we would have to win the battle, Silmaril. We just have to keep the Sorceress busy while we question the tree.”

  “It is too dangerous, not to mention that it is possible that the tree will not tell you its secret. In any case, we would risk losing valiant warriors in combat just for the sake of speaking to a tree. The price is too much to pay,” said Silmaril.

  “There is a bigger problem,” said Alexander. “We don’t have an army.”

  “Humans really are stupid sometimes,” said Dongo.

  “The rock dwarfs will fight, Alexander,” said Silmaril, “and so will the wood dwarfs. I’m sure Eolmuth would approve.”

  “We do not need an army because we will have gnomes with us.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Meredith.

  “But of course, gnomes can change into whatever they want, and there are several thousand of them. They could easily change into warrior dwarfs and make the Sorceress believe we have an enormous army,” said Alexander.

  “Exactly,” said Dongo with satisfaction.

  “You’re assuming that the gnomes will be happy to fight with us,” said Hope.

  “We have to go to Kratoa and convince them,” said Dongo.

  “You are forgetting about Ganarock,” said Silmaril. “If the Queen takes the shield into battle with her, it will dispel the gnomes’ magic, and gnomes are no warriors. They do not know how to fight.”

  “Very well, in that case, we have to get back Ganarock,” said Dongo.

  “That is a plan that’s bound to fail,” said Meredith.

  “Not if we can take Ganarock and substitute it for something.”

  “What should we do?” asked Alexander.

  “First of all, we must go to Kratoa. We will see if the gnomes are inclined to help us. Then we can think about the rest of the plan.”

  “There is another sizeable problem,” said Silmaril, “even if you manage to make the Sorceress mortal, we will still have to kill her.”

  “Silmaril is right,” said Alexander.

  “We will think about this and all the other problems later. Let’s get a move on to Kratoa.”

  Alexander questioned Dongo on the way to Kratoa.

  “How do you know so much about this magic tree?”

  “I followed the Sorceress when I was out looking for Golmuth. I was still living at Between-Two-Rocks at the time, when the Sorceress’ forces arrived. I made my way to Avengard and spent weeks observing everything that went on there very carefully, but I was unable to get into the castle because it was too tightly guarded. One day, I followed a troop of soldiers going with the Sorceress. They went to somewhere near High-View and that is where I discovered her secret. I immediately returned to Between-Two-Rocks to report to Werner, and that is when he decided to go and find you. Then, when he did not come back, I went to Numera.”

  “Did you see Antarus? Is he still alive?”

  “He is certainly still alive, and we have to save him too.”

  “The Ice Orpes will fight with us. That will boost our ranks of fearsome warriors.”

  “Are you sure, Alexander?”

  “Yes, Glacius gave me his word.”

  “His word is not the most reliable.”

  “I know, but we don’t have much choice. We have to trust him.”

  “In that case we will have a formidable army, assuming we manage to rally all the dwarfs, the Ice Orpes and the gnomes together.”

  Alexander left Dongo and made his way to Hope who was leading the group.

  “Do you really think the gnomes are going to help us?” asked Hope.

  “I hope so. We will not be able to defeat the Queen without them.”

  “The damned Sorceress, you mean,” she replied. She smiled at him.

  “You’re very nice, Hope. You always make me laugh.” Once more, Alexander felt butterflies fluttering in his stomach.

  “The entrance to Kratoa is in sight!” cried Silmaril.

  There was no need to tickle any rocks this time; the gnomes had kept their usual appearance. All of the happy companions except the Kirantorus went down the long stairway leading into the town. Geum and Gom came to greet their friends. The welcome was a warm one. When the hugs had finally ended, Dongo asked to speak with Gamar.

  The talk lasted several hours while Dongo explained his plan to the leader of the gnomes.

  “I am sorry, but I cannot accept,” said Gamar. “We risk losing too many gnomes in such a battle.”

  “If you cannot help us, nobody can.”

  “Even if we gathered to form an army, you would not be able to enter Avengard, it is too well guarded. We would be decimated in just a few hours by the mages and the Sorceress’ soldiers.”

  Alexander stepped towards the throne of stone where Gamar was sitting.

  “But I know how to get into Avengard.”

  “And how is that?”

  “The Sorceress uses magic mirrors in Avengard to travel from town to town at the speed of lightning. In just a few seconds she can get to Aronia, Lumenzia or High-View. It would be enough to draw the Sorceress onto the battlefield while a little group went into one of the towns I just mentioned. The
group would then be able to get into Avengard easily in order to free Golmuth and retrieve Ganarock.”

  “You are forgetting something, Alexander: the guards will notice the disappearance of Golmuth and the shield.”

  “Not if two gnomes replace them,” said Dongo.

  “None of my gnomes is foolish enough for such a mission.”

  Two gnomes raised their hands.

  “We are,” said Geum and Gom in chorus.

  Numerous heads nodded their approval of Alexander’s plan and whispering started to fill the room.

  “Silence!” shouted Gamar, “we still do not know how to deal with the Queen.”

  “On the contrary,” said Alexander, “by using the magic mirrors to flee Avengard, we could go directly to High-View to question of the magic tree. The Queen and Zgard would lose their powers and their invincibility.”

  “This plan is doomed to failure. We do not know if it is even possible for their immortality to be taken away from them.”

  “It is the only plan we have,” said Silmaril.

  The gnomes approved and started the chant Alexander’s name throughout the room.

  “Silence,” said Gamar again. “I will not be the leader who accepts the extinction of gnomes under the pretext of helping some children to save a miserable dwarf.”

  “Then you are no longer our leader,” said the gnomes.

  “We’ve had enough of Gamar,” some other gnomes said.

  In a single movement, the crowd shot forwards like an arrow in the direction of their chief.

  “Throw him in the dungeon!” the gnomes shouted.

  “Stop, alright, I agree!” cried Gamar even as he was being dragged away by the gnomes.

  “What will happen to him?” asked Amy.

  “Rest assured, little Amy,” said Geum, “no harm will come to him.”

  “Who is going to lead you now?” asked Meredith.

  “That would be me,” said Gom.

  “Long live Gom!” shouted the gnomes.

  “My dear friends, let us prepare for the battle that will decide the fate of Arboria,” their new chief said.