“Oh, I’m sure of that, and there’s quite a few of them, so it should be quite a feast.”
“It’s not you who are going to decide which things in the king’s traps are going to be eaten or not!” roared a thunderous voice. “Retrieve the creatures and take them to Oipaa.”
They had soon been winched up in the net, and a number of hairy arms took hold of them and dragged them off to a large chamber, where a troll who was at least 3 metres tall sat on a throne carved in stone. His mouth was grotesquely ugly, his eyes like glowing balls, hair long and stringy, and on his head sat a gold crown with large, shining diamonds.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, with a cold and grim look.
“We are travellers who have come to do business,” Anderika answered, obstinately.
“You’re lying!” he roared, with an evil smile that revealed several black gaps in a row of pointed teeth. “No one who doesn’t master the black arts comes here, and definitely not anyone to do business. The only ones who could’ve helped you are the Blue people.”
“No,” replied Kark, in a hopeless attempt to convince him of the opposite. This answer only resulted in the troll’s frenzied order to have them taken away, at which hundreds of yelling trolls immediately threw themselves towards them to remove them to the dungeon.
The cell that Anderika was thrown into a few minutes later was two-by-three metres and had walls of rough-hewn stone covered in dark, ugly blotches. Against the rear wall was a simple cot, the only furniture present. Incredibly, the trolls hadn’t detected the sceptre inside his jacket, which was however of little consolation when he lay down sorrowfully to contemplate his fate. Just when he was feeling at his worst, he saw, to his surprise, a glow of light in the darkness.
“Is that you, Xingezing?” he asked, incredulously.
“Yes, you didn’t think I’d abandoned you, did you?”
“But how in the world did you come here?”
“Through the same light tunnel that you used, but with the difference that it’s been a bit easier for me than it has been for you to remain hidden.”
“Can you help us to open the locks?”
“Unfortunately, not, Allur. Even if I could manage to get a hold of the keys, they are too heavy for me.”
“Then what should we do?”
“I don’t know,” she answered, miserably.
“Whatever happens to us, Xingezing,” he said, in a sudden moment of inspiration, after imagining that he could see her soul’s inner light, “I want you to know that I love you, and have done so ever since the beginning.”
“You have said the magic words that have freed me,” she said, sniffling, at which she began, in a sparkling rain of glittering white sparks, to begin spinning and vibrating at a feverish pitch.
Centimetre by centimetre, her body grew, and when the transformation was over, a beautiful woman with long, dark hair and glittering light-blue eyes stood before him.
“What has happened?” he asked, overwhelmed, stepping back shakily.
“Nothing else than that I’ve changed back to my proper self,” she answered, with a soft and loving look, caressing his cheek tenderly.
As the first playful rays of light found their way into the filthy cell, they woke abruptly at the sound of a keyring, after having lain tenderly in each other’s arms all night long. When they looked up, they saw a troll staring at them in astonishment, but who, once Xingezing had lifted her rod and cast a spell, was quickly transformed into a cawing black raven. With that, the troll’s keyring had fallen to the floor, which they managed to reach through the bars. They unlocked the door and rushed off to search for the others.
Once all the others had at last been freed, and they heard to their amazement that the woman was Xingezing, they shook their heads incredulously. It was nevertheless not the time to stand still and reflect, so that once they had armed themselves with swords they found in a weapons cabinet, they advanced carefully up the cellar stairs. When they reached the next floor, however, they were met with a surprise, as two trolls who stood guard attacked them ferociously. The one closest to them, with fiery-red hair and large gold earrings, and armed with a scimitar, had almost reached them when Xingezing succeeded in transforming the two of them to ravens that screeching flew up towards the sky.
“Oh, that was the last thing I could manage,” she said, supporting herself against Allur. “Now I’ve used up all my power.”
A moment later, they reached a large hall, with beautifully decorated vaulted windows, and were vainly beginning to think they could reach Padogen without any further fighting, when they say a purple glow, followed by a mocking laugh.
“So, you’re back?” said a woman who appeared before them, with a face as stiff as that of a marble statue.
“Yes, as you can see,” replied Xingezing.
“Who’s that?” whispered Allur.
“It’s the fairy queen, Gizgena.”
“But what’s she doing here?”
“Unfortunately, that would take too long to explain.”
“Yes, it is indeed a story that would take all too long to tell your company, especially since they won’t receive any pleasure from hearing it,” said the woman, derisively, then let out a shrill whistle, which called forth a large number of trolls.
“Arrest that woman and take her to Pildana” she ordered, pointing at Xingezing, “and kill the others!”
“It’s going to be a real pleasure,” said their enormous leader, his lips stretched into a grim leer.
As soon as she disappeared, they were surrounded by the trolls who, each one uglier than the last, came towards them with their long, sharp sabres. When it seemed that all hope was lost, they heard a whirring sound, which to their extreme surprise was the advancing robot, BU-tek, who had released itself from the gloom and gone into attack. The robot was programmed to fight against advanced weapons systems, but had no problem defending itself against the fiendish onslaught of the trolls, who at last realised the impossibility of winning and withdrew.
“How in the world have you managed to bring yourself here?” Anderika asked, when BU-tek stood before them to announce that he was ready and at their service.
“I was constructed in order to help people and according to the indications I was in possession of, you were in greater need of help than those who were in the Riverlands.”
“Who knows how she managed,” Kark said. “It’s nothing less than a miracle, and as in all such cases, one must simply be thankful. Any further explanations will have to wait until we have finished our mission, because now it is urgent that we find Padogen.”
After searching through several corridors and defeating a large number of trolls, Padogen revealed itself at last, to their great joy, before them. Their happiness was short-lived, however, for when BU-tek burned through the lock with his laser, they saw that it was empty and abandoned.
“That’s strange,” said Kark. “Isn’t the altar supposed to be indestructible?”
When desperation was close to overtaking them, they heard Xingezing emit a bubbling laugh.
“I know,” she said. “They had merely made it invisible. Bring out the sceptre now, Allur. The moment to administer justice has come.”
When he handed it over to her, she took a deep breath and put the stone in place on the altar, at which a powerful blue, pulsing glow, which eventually shifted into a white, sparking light, filled the room. A few seconds later, they were dumbfounded to see Oblej and Irridi revealing themselves joyfully before them. At the sight of Xingezing, however, they immediately fell to their knees and pronounced their loyalty to Vinisareth.
“Rise, my friends,” she said. “Don’t be afraid.”
“Why should they be?” asked Anderika, “and who is Vinisareth? Explain to us, for we can’t understand a thing!”
“In time, you will receive the answers to all your questions,” she answered, “but you must excuse me now, for I have urgent matters to deal with, which must be addressed immediate
ly, and cannot wait.”
At which she took Allur’s hand and led him through a shining door that had appeared in one of the stone walls.
“Where did they go?” asked Caver, once they had disappeared and the wall had returned to its normal appearance.
“If the legend is correct,” said Oblej, “they have probably travelled to the city of the fairy peoples, Getarah, which lies where the world ends, high above the clouds.”
As time passed, ever more people arrived in the castle grounds from the Blue Islands, until the park was filled with thousands of euphoric men, women and children who relished to the full the joy of once again being able, without fearing for their lives, to be outside in full daylight. There were no longer any traces of the trolls, but there were flocks of screeching ravens that croaked as they flew around above the rooftops. When the rest of their fellow travellers arrived, they wondered, after exchanging hugs and greetings, where Fillifaj was, since she was not with them.
“She was a traitor,” replied Enaiga, darkly. “Just after you left through the air tunnel to Surukand, we were surrounded by a bunch of trolls, at which she mockingly informed us that you the only reason you were permitted to continue was so that they could arrest Vinisareth, and that when you were out of the way, she was going to inform the Fairy Council. Happily, it didn’t become too terrible, since when all hope seemed gone, I suddenly remembered the whistle that Zagara had given me.”
“You haven’t told us anything about that,” said Zania, surprised.
“No, because she explicitly told me to be quiet about it, and only use it in an extreme emergency. Now, that seemed to be that kind of moment, so once I had blown the whistle, Fillifaj was instantly changed into a mouse and the trolls were transformed into crows.”
They weren’t able to go through all the elements of what happened, since Irridi and Oblej appeared in the fortress’s coping, which set off wild hurrays and happiness. When it became quite enough to hear what one was saying, Oblej began to speak, in a loud voice.
“My dear friends, we are back in Surukand once again!”
He wasn’t able to proceed, since his speech was drowned out by the cheering roar from the crowd. When it once again subsided somewhat, he continued:
“Today we are experiencing a great day that we will never forget, and that poets will be praising for a long time to come. For generations, we have nurtured the dream that one day we would be able to return to the homeland of our forefathers. A dream that we have so often felt discouraged about, but have always longed for, and that now, however incredible it may seem, has been realized. Even if we are celebrating today, we must remain aware of tomorrow’s challenges, and that the way before us is long. We are going to stumble against obstacles and even make mistakes, but I promise that we shall proceed in our struggle until we attain a final victory. Your weakness is our weakness, and your strength is our common strength and, together, as soon as is humanly possible, we will begin the work of restoring our beloved Surukand to its former glory and greatness.”
At those words, all the pent-up longing that the people in front of them had borne for such a very long time was now released in thunderous applause and roaring joy, which seemed to go on unendingly, accompanied by the fortress bells filling the air with their high, clear clang.
When Kark sat together with the others at the table of honour in the packed ballroom later that evening, Oblej expressed his appreciation for their exertions and proposed a toast in their honour.
“There is nothing to thank us for,” said Kark, when they had drunk their toast and set down their glasses. “We really didn’t have much else to do at the time that we met out on the Blue Islands.”
“You are too modest,” said Oblej. “Most people, after having been exposed to the dangers of the sea of bacteria, would have chosen a simpler path and not risked their lives in such an adventurous mission. You have really been fantastic."
Kark’s response to this praise was only a waving gesture.
“Maybe we are a bit more daring than many,” Kark said, laughing, “but the question is whether there is really so much to admire. It’s said that the border between courage and stupidity is paper-thin.”
“That may be, but without courage, no change has ever been able to be accomplished, and, in any case, we are all endlessly thankful.”
“There’s one thing I’d like to know,” Anderika asked, when the main course was being served, “which is why we didn’t get to know anything about Rismen before we left you and departed for the mainland.”
“For the simple reason that we were afraid that, if you were ever arrested, you would have been forced to reveal his identity,” answered Irridi, “which is why we felt it was better if he could give you a helping hand whenever you needed it, instead. Shortly after you had arrived on the mainland, he took a first look at you and was able, as far as I could tell, to frighten you thoroughly.”
“Yes, we actually thought that we were about to meet our doom,” they said, shaking with laughter, when the episode was called to mind.
“Was it also him who left that note for me, with the warning, in the inn in the town of Ekron?” asked Kark.
“That’s correct. He quickly surmised that Fillifaj might be someone else than who she was presenting herself to be, but was forced to withhold the information from you, since he had neither the possibility to follow you to Surukand, nor to open Ragoden’s air tunnel. As luck would have it, he was familiar with the route that Menoti was going to use, and that Fillifaj had learned by heart. He arranged that along the way, at the home of Zagara and Dozek, you would receive the whistle, which at one time belong to the mountain shepherd, Halleros, for your protection.
“But in Darwan he nevertheless revealed his identity?”
“Yes, because there you had landed in extreme danger and you would in any case go separate ways once you arrived at Vindre Heath, which he was unable to travel on. However, he arranged that one of his helpers, who was a mutant, followed you at a distance, to see if he could help you if a problem should arise.”
“That’s the explanation for that horrible scream that we heard in the fog,” said Zania, sorrowfully.
“Yes, poor Benzo, it must have been one of those dragons that got a hold of him. His aura didn’t protect him as well as Rismen believed.”
“But what happened to the real Fillifaj who we were supposed to meet in the town of Lotre?” asked Anderika.
“The Fairy Council must have long known about our contact with the Menoti family, but left them alone, since they thought that for getting information about us, they were more useful alive than dead. When they then received news about your escape from Gildar, they considered that it was due time to get them out of the way.”
“Poor people.”
“Yes, but unfortunately the world is just as full of evil as it is of goodness and it therefore must receive its dues as well.”
“But who followed us when we came out of their shop?”
“They were worried that you were going to investigate Steinar, or even worse, perhaps, that you might think that it was worthwhile to await his return, which they didn’t think they should risk. Pursuing you was therefore nothing more than a well-directed bit of theatre, for the purpose of making the context as believable as possible, and to get you to quickly accept Fillifaj.”
“It just shows how little one really knows,” said Kark. “And something that I thought was one of the most dangerous episodes of our entire journey.”
“Yes, but things are not always what they seem, and sometimes even what seems trivial can be dangerous, especially since one tends to relax one’s guard. In addition to all the dangers you had to meet during your trip,” she continued, after taking a large sip of her wine, “there were also a number of situations when everything might have gone completely haywire. Especially in the final phase, when you met Gizgena and were then saved by a robot, which no one in our world had ever heard of. I still cannot register in my
mind that you have succeeded in your mission and returned the King’s Stone. That we can sit here tonight and celebrate our return seems nothing but a miracle, but it is precisely what we are actually doing!”
CHAPTER 26
The celebrations continued for several days, until at last everyday demands slowly took over and life began to return to normal. One morning, Kark stood gazing out across the valley, when Oblej dropped by with the news that they had received an invitation to the city of Getarah. Overcome with excitement, Kark relayed the news to the others, so that they all prepared to leave as quickly as possible. When they were packed and ready, they went to the Padogen with Oblej. After passing through the wall’s light opening, they experienced a moment of weightlessness before they arrived at another padog, made of glass, where a woman called Danikia stood waiting for them.
Once out in the daylight, a city of shining buildings in all the colours of the rainbow lay spread out before them. Everyone they met was dressed in the best of embroidered silk brocade, and appeared so affectionate and insightful that they seemed to have viewed the most inner secrets of the cosmos. When the new arrivals passed several marble basins where children laughed and splashed and played, they eventually arrived at a castle without guards, which they guessed were unnecessary in such a peaceful atmosphere. They passed through several large halls, each more beautiful than the last, until they entered a lavishly ornamented gilded hall where they saw Vinisareth seated on a high throne, with Allur at her side. She greeted them with a warm smile.
When she had assured herself that they were in good health and that the journey had gone well, she told them that it was indeed she who was Vinisareth, and that she was the queen for one of the seven fairy clans that were part of the gilded throne and, as such, spiritual master of the Blue people.
“But what was the reason for your being that light form that we had all come to know as Xingezing?” asked Anderika.
“It’s a long story, but the short version is that my parents were killed in a tragic accident long ago. Before I could be crowned as the new fairy queen, Gizgena seized the opportunity to try to disrupt the balance of power between the clans that had prevailed for hundreds of years. Together with the other five fairy queens, she managed, thanks to my inexperience, but also because of the sorrow I was experiencing, to penetrate our protective runes and place me under Zecaro’s hypnosis. However, they did not intend to kill me, since our people would then be able to choose a new leader. Instead, I was shrunk, placed in a cage, and sold to the Belarians, who are the only people who are permitted to trade with our planet, and who eventually sold me to Zania.
Loria Page 25
