The Gate

by Jennifer N Hibbert

  Odd-looking houses were built upon the meadow, presumably belonging to these strange creatures. The dwellings were of many different shapes and sizes. Some, known as ‘hobbit houses’, resembled mushrooms; she’d come across this image in one of the books she read on their way to Mars. Some were made from mud and had thatched roofs; others were built from straw and perched on stilts along the seafront, with a wooden bridge leading from them to the sea. Ropes and baskets hung outside, and canoes with fishing nets were moored nearby. Nobody seemed to be using the boats at that time of the day. Perhaps they don’t fish in the afternoon, she thought. Lanterns dangled from chains hanging between the trees, swaying from side to side, caressed by the wind.

  ‘What kind of houses are those cut from stone?’ she asked.

  ‘Those are toda huts, found in southern India. Ventilation in these homes is usually poor because the windows are very small. Even though lanterns are sometimes lit, the houses are dark inside and they can have a stale odour. Despite the intensity of the sun or the cool breeze from the sea, the air inside usually feels dry and musty,’ Zatol explained.

  ‘They look nice from the outside, although they are very small,’ she said.

  ‘Umm . . . ’ he replied.

  Carrol’s eyes were drawn to some broken and abandoned homes. Perhaps the occupants are dead or have moved somewhere else, she thought. Over time, these shelters had housed a colony of vampire bats; she could see them flying in and out of the homes from their sloping roofs.

  As Carrol looked at the houses, she also concluded that none had been built with an urban strategy in mind. No city planners or formally schooled architects had been employed during their construction. Rather, the denizens depended on the intuitive skills of local builders. The genius of their design was that the homes had been custom-built to suit a variety of occupants. The settlement had expanded organically as the island’s population increased; however, this growth had been very slow, she concluded, agreeing with Zatol’s analysis.

  Some of the inhabitants lived in holes in the ground, some in the trees and some in the water. The collection of different homes mirrored Nature’s own variety of habitats and the island housed the most awesome creatures and humans. She noticed that the humans here had also been enchanted, perhaps to adapt and live here on Mars. Over time, due to enchantment, they had become beings of another kind. Some, like Carrol, looked like cartoon images of themselves. Some had become cosmic beings, while others were mythical like the man-horse centaurs that were fanning their tails as they walked. There were dwarfs, redcap dwarfs, dragons, werewolves, basilisk serpents, robots and mermaids. They all worked together on the awesome island and coexisted in harmony.

  She distinguished the redcap dwarfs from the normal dwarfs by their appearance. Luckily, Carrol had read about them in a novel. The red caps were a race of malevolent, murderous, dwarf-like spirits native to Scotland. The ones here had human and eagle-like features; their fingers were like an eagle’s talons and their noses were as sharp as beaks. They were very strong and swift in battle, and dressed in iron boots and red caps. Their caps were red because they soaked them in their victims’ blood. The thought made Carrol squeamish to the point of gagging. She closed her mouth to suppress the urge; she’d endured the same feeling when she’d read it on the book.

  ‘Look, all the dwarfs in this island seem to be carrying a sword and a mirrored shield. Are they the security?’ she asked.

  ‘Well, they are short, and there are some basilisk serpents slithering around so perhaps they are trying to protect themselves from the deadly snakes that can kill them with just a glance or through their breath. The dwarfs use their mirrors to shield themselves. If a basilisk tried to attack them, it would kill itself by glancing at its own eyes. Despite the harmony here, and even with the help of enchantment, these two still attack each other,’ Zatol explained.

  ‘I didn’t know that. I didn’t even know about that type of snake,’ Carrol said. ‘Wow, I’m pretty sure all kinds of creatures are here except ghosts and dragons.’

  ‘Well, you can’t be too sure since you can’t see ghosts with a naked eye and dragons live in dens.’

  Hearing that, Carrol started looking around fearfully.

  Zatol wasn’t sure what to make of this environment. A few of the creatures looked like they were from his realm and he wondered why they were here, living and working together as if it was their own planet. He feared that they were being held as prisoners, but their relaxed conduct didn’t suggest entrapment. Still hiding in the bushes, he stretched his neck to see more of what was going on.

  Carrol couldn’t believe her eyes; the natural beauty of this place was beyond anything she’d ever seen or even imagined.

  ‘I’ll have to cross over there alone so I can enter the wall and find out exactly what’s happening here,’ Zatol said, pointing towards the houses. It was the area where most of the strange-looking creatures were milling around. Some of them were relaxing, others were playing sports; everything seemed normal, but Zatol had noticed a mixture of mythical and cosmic armed guards standing nearby.

  ‘I’ll go with you,’ Carrol said with panic in her voice.

  ‘No, stay here. I’ll be back as quickly as I can.’ He started marching forward and then running in a zigzag, moving faster than the wind. Soon enough, Carrol couldn’t see him anymore.

  She became nervous as she continued to look for him. She waited for a few minutes, which felt more like hours, glancing at the mermaids from time to time. Timidly, she crept towards them. When she was about twenty feet away, she stood behind a large tree and popped her head out.

  One of the mermaids saw her. She whispered to the mermaid sitting next to her; each mermaid whispered to the next down the line until the last one shouted out, ‘Where is she? Did you say she was behind the tree? Which one?’

  Carrol froze. Her heart pounded and she wondered what to do. She wasn’t sure if this meant they had seen her, or whether they were talking about someone else. The mermaids jumped into the water, except for the one who had started the whispering, who sat quietly and looked in Carrol’s direction.

  Carrol wasn’t sure how to react: she popped out timidly from behind the tree and then she quickly retreated and tucked herself away.

  The brave mermaid said, ‘You can come out now. We can see you hiding.’

  Carrol stepped out, staring warily at the mermaids, who were returning to the water’s edge.

  The smallest one said, ‘Hi, my name is Kesweed.’ She started combing her hair, which swept over her shoulder, and tying in a lovely yellow flower she had plucked from where they were sitting. Her hair was already embellished with colourful ribbons of seaweed, not the greenish-brown variety. Her bra top and the scales on her tail were also made of multi-coloured seaweed: light and dark yellow, dark and light green, and some red, grey and purple, flowing out like tassels.

  ‘I’m called Kesweed because I’m the seaweed mermaid.’ She pointed to the right. ‘That’s Shellcyna; she is the shellfish mermaid.’

  Shellcyna’s hair, bra top and tail were covered with beautiful shells in an array of colours that glimmered in the sunlight. She lifted her head and smiled before shying away.

  Carrol said, ‘Hi,’ and lifted her hand to give a little wave.

  Kesweed pointed past Shellcyna to her right. ‘That’s Lilypa. She’s the lily-pad mermaid.’ Lilypa’s hair was also adorned with flowers but hers were white, pink or deep purple. Water lilies covered her top and tail and she sat on a large lily pad. She smiled at Carrol.

  Kesweed turned to her left. ‘This is Corafar; she’s the coral-reef mermaid.’

  Corafar beamed. She was very beautiful and bright coral reef draped from her bra top and tail. Her hair was plaited with coral-reef branches.

  Sitting next to Corafar on the left was Starlena, who Kesweed introduced as the starfish mermaid. Her hair, top and tail were embellished with starfish of different colours, shapes and sizes. She didn’t smile but he
r eyes softened. Carrol smiled and nodded at her.

  ‘And here are the fairies. They live among the willow trees,’ Kesweed said, waving her hand towards the hundreds of thumb-sized fairies, who fluttered up and down above them. Some perched in the trees, some landed on the soft grass near the mermaids and frolicked comfortably, while others stayed on the lower branches of the weeping willows, using their wings to dance around as though they were preparing for flight.

  Ha, I was wondering what those were, Carrol said to herself. I thought they were fairies but I wasn’t sure.

  ‘Where did you come from?’ Kesweed asked finally. ‘I’ve never seen you here before.’

  The other four mermaids looked at their friend, as though trying to get her to stop talking. Kesweed pulled back a little but rested her eyes on Carrol, waiting for an answer.

  Carrol said nothing immediately. She stood for a moment, wondering whether to tell them or not. ‘We came from Mars Rothadam,’ she said, looking at the ground.

  ‘Where is that located? Where is the rest of your group?’ Kesweed asked cheerfully.

  ‘It’s located on the northern side of Mars,’ Carrol replied, feeling anxious. ‘We didn’t come here in a group. I only came with my friend. He went over there.’

  As soon as she pointed in the direction in which Zatol had disappeared, the mermaids’ eyes widened and they gasped in horror. Even the fairies leapt up from their branches and flew around a little before perching again. They were all silent for a few minutes but looked at each other intently; it seemed that the mermaids were speaking to each other through their eyes. The fairies seemed to understand this language and a few of them dropped down to join the silent conversation.

  Carrol continued to watch the mermaids, especially Kesweed. She knew that if anyone would tell her what was going on it was her, but she wasn’t sure if the other mermaids would allow Kesweed to speak.

  She looked across to where she had been hiding with Zatol to see if he had returned, but there was no sign of him. She worried that something had happened. She swallowed hard and waited to see if any of the mermaids would tell her anything. It wasn’t long before Kesweed’s voice echoed in her ears. ‘You have to be very careful around here. You must know that it’s absolutely impossible to leave this place alive if they find you.’

  The moment Kesweed said that, two of the mermaids, Starlena and Shellcyna, dived into the water and swam away. Carrol could tell that the other mermaids didn’t want to be involved, maybe out of fear of being in trouble with someone or something bigger than they were. In a croaky voice, she asked, ‘Who are they?’

  Kesweed looked around furtively before speaking. ‘If you can, you’re better off leaving immediately before they detect your presence. They’re very good at detecting outsiders. Why did you come here?’

  ‘We were exploring and didn’t mean to,’ replied Carrol. She shrugged her shoulders. Her rubbery skin looked pale.

  ‘The owner of this island doesn’t welcome strangers. He has enchanted the whole place; no one can leave, including us. That’s not to say that we want to leave – this island has been our home since the beginning of time. When he finds strangers, though, sometimes he kills them, depending on what they’ve done. If he’s happy for someone to stay, they remain a prisoner and never leave again.’ The mermaids that were sitting there continued to look around, seeming afraid of being overheard.

  ‘Why were they killed? Who kills them?’ Carrol asked timidly.

  ‘His name is Varuk Bendy. Of course, he wouldn’t arrest you himself; his men will do it. It’s said that they have eyes everywhere. I’m surprised you made it this far without being noticed. Most people are usually apprehended as soon as they step foot anywhere on the island,’ Kesweed said. ‘Varuk is powerful and malevolent, the dark lord of Vencin. He stole the island as a present for his wife, Lady Adlerna. Oh, she was very beautiful, wasn’t she?’ Kesweed asked, looking at the other mermaids for confirmation though no one said anything.

  ‘When she died, he handed it to their daughter, Kylephina. Varuk was able to take the island without the Gatekeepers’ knowledge because his father, Calbas, was their head. Therefore, he had an excellent knowledge of how and where the islands were kept and in what layers they were stacked to stop them from moving.

  ‘This island is called Timbuk and it’s situated on the westerly side of Mars, which is called Mars Vencin. One day the Gatekeepers travelling past the area were surprised to discover that Timbuk had vanished. After searching various places on Earth with no luck, they concluded that a natural disaster had occurred without their knowledge and swept the island away. A short while later, the Gatekeepers unexpectedly received a distress call from Mars Vencin. They couldn’t believe their eyes when they arrived.

  ‘To return an island requires special care and attention and cannot be carried out under the threat of war. Varuk was willing to fight to the death for this place, which meant an inevitable loss of many lives from all sides and possibly the destruction of the island’s habitat. Also, the island’s inhabitants told the Gatekeepers that they would rather remain on Mars. They were settled after having lived here for more than fifty-seven years – that’s why this island is now inhabited by all kinds of creatures, including Earth animals who have over time turned into beings but still look like Earth animals. To further complicate matters, the area that the island had previously occupied had healed itself during the intervening years and new creatures were now occupying the spot. This was a big issue at the time.’

  Lilypa and Corafar whispered to Kesweed, whose expression became alarmed. She gulped and looked around and her eyes darted up the tree above Carrol. The other two mermaids jumped into the water and Kesweed quickly followed. Even the fairies flitted away and there was a massive commotion. The birds flew off the trees and some dragonflies flapped off into the air. That was the first time Carrol caught a glimpse of the dragonflies.

  Petrified, Carrol looked up at the trees above her. She spotted an enormous chameleon. It had adapted to match the colour and texture of the willow tree it was resting on but its rolling black eyes gave it away.

  Suddenly, the sea breeze was not enough to keep her cool; sweat dripped down her back, and her stomach churned with panic. She scanned the area to see if Zatol had returned.

  Deftly, the chameleon leapt down from the tree and instantly turned into a man about six feet tall. Carrol never got the chance to get a good look at him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a weapon that looked like a short torch, which he flashed in Carrol’s face. It made a buzzing sound. Blinded by the intense light, she passed out without uttering a word.

  CHAPTER 24

  CARROL AND ZATOL ARE CAPTURED AND DETAINED

  Zatol had successfully entered the wall and gained a clearer understanding of what was happening. He saw the living quarters of the island’s inhabitants; the majority of them had made a home here and raised families. More houses were carved into the rocks along the mountain’s edge. The sea rolled against the brow of the Rocky Mountains. The other side of the mountain was dry, as though that was where Timbuk Island met with Mars Vencin.

  This land around the edges of the settlement looked similar to Mars; its soil was dry and reddish in colour. However, it still felt like soil from Earth. This place is definitely mysterious, Zatol thought.

  He tried to access any documents that would explain what had happened here but he found none while he moved within the walls. He also tried to decipher the language or accent of the inhabitants but they all spoke the same way.

  As he looked through the walls, he thought about Carrol on her own and decided to return to the spot where he’d left her, but when he got there she was nowhere to be found. Even the mermaids had disappeared. He hid in the grass and looked around. Suddenly two guards appeared from nowhere. One pounced on Zatol, grabbed him by the throat and started strangling him.

  Zatol tried to wriggle away but the man grabbed his tail and swung him around repeatedly while
he bellowed like a deranged, untamed horse to disorient him. When the guard let go of his tail, Zatol went flying into the air. He tried to recover and run on his four legs, but the other guard quickly apprehended him, twisting his short arms behind him. Zatol struggled to free himself but they bound his hands together. Before he could react, they pulled out a weapon and flashed it in his face and he lost consciousness.

  When Zatol opened his eyes, he found that his hands and feet were tied and he was trapped tightly in a metal net; he couldn’t move any part of his body. He saw Carrol lying nearby; her hands and legs were also bound. Zatol looked around the holding area; it was a large open room, divided by metal gates.

  Carrol was awake in the next cell and she’d seen that Zatol was in the same predicament. She tried to call out to him. It took every bit of Zatol’s strength to inflate his body and make an expression that she understood as an instruction not to speak; he didn’t want anyone to know they were together, which Carrol seemed to understand.

  They were being held in a metal room that looked like the inside of a spaceship. Soldiers were moving in all directions and guards were stationed along the corridor.

  When Carrol saw they had caught Zatol, she wasn’t sure how he had been captured; however, she believed he could have held his own against them – as he had demonstrated in the past – if he hadn’t been burdened by looking out for her.

  It was too late to worry about that. Their priority now was to get out of this place alive. She remembered what Kesweed had told her, that they would either become prisoners or be killed. She wanted to relate everything the mermaids had said to Zatol; if she ever needed telepathic powers, it was now.

  Zatol looked helpless as he lay inside the metal cage that fitted him like a straitjacket. His eyes rotated every so often when he blinked. He was calculating how to escape from his captivity and wondering why the corridor was suddenly quiet. It wasn’t long before he heard the guards’ footsteps and soon three men were in front of his cell. One of them opened the gate and they all entered. Two of the men opened the metal cage that encased Zatol, grabbed his arms and started dragging him, while one of them held on to the flashing wand that had blinded him during his arrest.