Beyond the Cherry Tree

by Joe O'Brien

  Suddenly Josh could see light ahead. It was coming from three directions and meeting in one point at the centre of the pit up ahead. Josh ran faster, waving his arms and thrashing his body, his hands in a frenzy. As he drew closer, he could smell a terrible stench. He made it to the light.

  Strangely, the spinners ceased their chase. They stopped at the shadowed edges where the tunnel met three more tunnels.

  Light shone down from above. Josh was no longer in darkness.

  The spinners on the floor quickly crept backwards, into the darkness, leaving Josh all alone. They watched him, hundreds of tiny eyes flickering.

  Josh turned around in circles, scratching himself all over and pulling spiny hairs from his itching skin. He looked toward the spinner’s tunnel. He thought of Eusyphia and wondered if she was still alive, but he knew that he could not go back to her. He looked at the other three tunnels and then looked to the light above. There was no way out.

  Why? Why have the spinners stopped? What are they scared of? he thought while holding his nose to block the sickening smell.

  His answer followed quickly.

  The spinners turned from the shadowed edges of the pit and scurried away. Josh had heard nothing that could have startled them, but he could feel – sense – that there was something in the pit with him. He slowly turned around clenching his sword. As he turned full circle, he found himself stumbling backwards onto the ground. He held out his sword. The creature’s tongue slithered up and down the blade.

  Staring down at him, with its large, pink eyes and its long, serrated tongue, was a giant albino serpent. Its long, slimy body stretched out of one of the tunnels behind. Josh was speechless. Even though he tried to use his sword, he found his arms paralysed with fear and shock. The serpent stretched its tongue toward Josh. He slid it over the boy’s body, then slowly retracted it back into its mouth.

  Then, it spoke.

  ‘I am Slygar,’ hissed the serpent. ‘What brings a boy into my pit?’

  Josh struggled to get any words out. Then he took a deep breath.

  ‘Accident! It was an accident. Fell … we fell in.’

  ‘Thought as much,’ said Slygar, leaning his head back from Josh’s face. ‘And you will want to leave now, won’t you?’

  Josh wasn’t sure whether that was a question or whether Slygar was teasing him.

  ‘Yes! If you don’t mind, that is.’

  The serpent smiled, ‘Fear not, boy. You would make little impression on my desires. I will spare your life.’

  Josh slowly stood up.

  ‘Where was your journey bringing you when you fell into my pit?’ asked Slygar, noticing the symbols on Josh’s sword.

  ‘Erzkrin.’

  ‘Then I will take you. It will be a quicker and shorter journey underground.’

  ‘You will help me?’

  Slygar bowed his head and then raised it again.

  ‘I would help the King of Habilon, my lord.’

  Josh noticed something on the top of the serpent’s head that reminded him of home – of Henry’s story to be exact. He remembered Henry telling him of how the general had left a serpent with a scar on top of his head, when he too fell into the serpent’s pit that stank of death …

  Slygar is the serpent in Henry’s story! thought Josh. What am I going to do? He’ll kill me for sure. I don’t trust him.

  Josh feared to let Slygar know that he doubted the serpent’s loyalty, so he had to pretend to trust him.

  Josh looked behind. ‘There was another. We have to go back for her.’

  Slygar shook his head. ‘It will be too late.’

  Josh wasn’t sure what to do. How could he leave Eusyphia behind? Was this the way it was supposed to be? Was this what it was really like being a king, having others sacrifice themselves for your well-being?

  Josh looked toward the spinners’ dark tunnel once more and then climbed onto Slygar. There’s no going back! he thought. Then and not for the first time, he thought of the general’s wise words in Henry’s story – Forward and fearless – that’s the only way to find truth in one’s journey.

  Slygar dipped his head and then slowly slid back into the far tunnel, leaving all light and hope for Eusyphia behind.

  Chapter 20

  A Terrible Trade

  Josh clung to Slygar’s slimy scales, wondering when or if he would see daylight again. The serpent slithered through the black of the underground for what seemed like a long time.

  Finally, light warmed Josh’s face once more. Slygar slithered up the walls towards a small opening.

  ‘Keep your head low, King of Habilon,’ hissed the serpent as he crashed through the hole with venomous speed, sending stony debris flying through the air.

  They were above ground. Josh wiped his eyes as a cloud of dust slowly settled around him. There were small hills on either side of them. These hills stretched across a short distance, then stopped almost at the foot of a large mountain where the terrain radically changed from grass to rock. The summit of this mountain almost touched the clouds above. It was Mount Erzkrin!

  ‘We’re here,’ announced Josh.

  Slygar twisted his head around to him.

  ‘Almost, but not quite. We still have to pass through the valley.’ The serpent smiled at Josh, then began to slowly slither toward the foot of Erzkrin.

  Smolderin flew low to the ground on Danthenum’s order. They had been searching for their king all through the night and now they were close to Erzkrin. Danthenum didn’t want to be seen just yet by Krudon’s dragolytes.

  Bortwig was beginning to fear the worst.

  Danthenum, on the other hand, was fighting niggling doubts that were haunting his mind. He was beginning to regret addressing the High Council.

  ‘Tell me again, elf,’ said Danthenum. ‘You’re sure that the wizard has met with the boy?’

  ‘We’ve already been through this, Danthenum. Now please keep looking. We must find them.’

  Suddenly, Smolderin turned sharply, almost sending the elf and the knight to the ground.

  The dragon had seen something.

  Smolderin quietly landed at the foot of a small hill.

  ‘What is it, Smolderin?’ asked Danthenum.

  The dragon lay low, his wings close to the ground, his head resting quietly.

  At that moment, they saw. The creatures lurked around the corner of two hills beyond them. Drool dripped from their gaping mouths and fell onto their enormous feet. It then rolled onto the grass and formed big, foul pools. The creatures had been waiting for some time. They looked hungry – very hungry.

  ‘Cyclopses!’ gasped Danthenum.

  ‘Valley of the Cyclopses,’ whispered Bortwig. ‘There is a trade in the making.’

  ‘A trade?’

  ‘Yes!’ said Bortwig. ‘Look closer, at the one near the back.’

  Danthenum could see a cyclops holding two small creatures in each hand, gripping their necks tightly. They wriggled about and made hollow cries from their nostrils.

  ‘They’re grildons,’ noticed Danthenum.

  ‘Grildons they are,’ said Bortwig. ‘And of no use to the cyclopses’ bellies. Poison flows through their flesh. See how his hands are gloved with cloth and how he holds them away from him? Yes, grildons can kill even a cyclops by just touching its skin.’

  ‘What are they doing with them?’ asked Danthenum.

  ‘I don’t know,’ shrugged Bortwig. ‘But cyclopses are loyal to Krudon so we better stay out of sight until they have moved on.’

  The elf and the knight sat still, waiting. Neither had any idea of the surprise to come.

  They didn’t have to wait very long. They watched the biggest cyclops come forward, stepping out from behind the hill.

  It slumped across the grassy valley, then turned and gestured toward the one holding the grildons.

  Bortwig and Danthenum watched closely. They could see a long tongue slither around a corner, followed by a serpent’s head.

  �
�Slygar,’ gasped Bortwig. The serpent stopped, only his head to be seen.

  ‘There is going to be a trade,’ said Bortwig. ‘Slygar must have something for the cyclopses and of course he will take the grildons. Slygar is immune to their poison. His venom dissolves it. He will drag them down into his pit and play with them, chasing them in darkness, before he eats them.’

  The elf was right. There was to be a trade – a terrible trade, they would discover as Slygar slithered toward the cyclops, with Josh on his back.

  Smolderin bellowed a raging roar and angrily flapped his wings, lunging Danthenum and Bortwig up into the air. Danthenum drew his sword as the white dragon flew toward the centre of the valley, where the trade was taking place.

  Slygar quickly twisted full circle. The biggest cyclops grabbed hold of Slygar’s tail and pulled the serpent back. He wasn’t giving up Josh – his meal – just yet!

  The rest of the cyclopses threw axes and rocks at Smolderin, but the dragon dipped and dived, avoiding any injury. Smolderin set a cyclops’ head alight, sending the blinded creature screeching to the ground where it thrashed about in desperate torture.

  The other cyclopses retreated, fearing the same fate, but the biggest one did not fear the dragon at all; his hunger had driven him to madness. The boy on the serpent’s back was his only focus.

  In the confusion of the moment, the cyclops holding the grildons tripped and fell onto his back. One of the grildons slipped from his clutches and rolled across his enormous body until it rested upon the cyclops’ face. There was a harrowing cry from the cyclops as he threw the grildon from his face and simultaneously released the other one from his hand. The wounded cyclops tore clumps of turf from the ground and its back arched. Blood poured from its eye and the skin on its face swelled, revealing deep, traumatised veins. With a hopeless gasp, it was dead. The grildons scurried away.

  Smolderin ascended and turned once more, fixing his eyes upon Slygar this time.

  ‘Get me down low,’ ordered Danthenum. The white dragon dipped his head.

  Josh drew his sword and plunged it into Slygar’s thick armour of scales, barely penetrating his skin. Slygar lashed his tongue over his head, slapping Josh onto his back. Josh was now dazed. As Slygar thrust his body around in one last attempt to free himself from the cyclops’ grasp, Josh fell from him and rolled across the ground.

  The cyclops let go of Slygar. The serpent slithered away, disappearing behind a hill. Josh lay on the ground, his sword resting upon the palm of his hand.

  ‘Hurry, Smolderin!’ cried Bortwig. The dragon screeched as it approached the cyclops, but he could not breath fire since he was too close to Josh.

  The cyclops leaned over to pick up Josh. Smolderin opened his claws. Just as he was about to sink them into the cyclops’ back, Josh gripped his sword tightly and plunged it through his captor’s heart.

  The cyclops cried out. Smolderin plucked the dying creature into the air before he could collapse on Josh, then flung him against a large boulder at the foot of the hill behind the boy. Josh stood up, rubbing his head with one hand and proudly holding the blood-soaked sword in his other.

  The prince did well! thought the elf and the knight as Smolderin landed beside the boy. They jumped off and greeted him with fondness and high praise.

  Chapter 21

  Three Thousand Goblins

  Four hundred men and horses had travelled with speed through the night, on into the next day. They finally reached the foot of Mount Valdosyr at high sun. There, Thericus’ high knight issued another the instruction to let the army rest. Water was collected from a nearby stream for the horses.

  The knights were planning their climb of Valdosyr when a dunger that had trailed on foot disturbed them. Mad Argil popped his head up from behind the rock that the knights were resting upon. His hands were covered in horse dung.

  ‘You won’t be able to pass through the mountain that way. You’ll have to go further. Yes, further around before you climb.’

  One of the knights held his hand to his nose.

  ‘Filthy dunger, take your smell and your madness away from this place now.’

  Mad Argil tittered nervously, his madness temporarily on leave. At this moment he was simply a dunger. This was a phase he would go through every once and a while.

  ‘Madness, you say? It is madness to be sitting around plotting and planning right before someone when he is watching you plan your demise?’ Mad Argil slowly moved around the knights until he was facing north, straight towards the rocky boulders and cliffs that formed the foot of Valdosyr.

  The high knight turned his head toward the mountain, then back to Mad Argil.

  ‘What do you mean, dunger?’

  Another knight laughed, ‘Tell me you’re not going to waste your thoughts on the words of a dunger?’

  ‘Do not laugh so easily,’ said the high knight. ‘Filthy, smelly creatures they may be, but dungers are known for their sixth sense.’

  Just as Mad Argil was about to explain, there was a loud clash up toward the front of the army and screams waved over the line of men and horses until they reached the spot where the knights and the dunger were gathered.

  ‘Told you!’ smiled Mad Argil.

  ‘What is it?’

  Before Mad Argil could answer, however, it happened again, and they saw it.

  ‘It’s as if the mountain has come alive!’ cried the other.

  ‘Krags!’ yelled Mad Argil.

  The high knight gave the order for his men to retreat from the mountain. Then they listened intently to what Mad Argil had to tell them.

  ‘I’ve heard stories about them, but I’ve never seen one. At least, not until now,’ smiled Mad Argil.

  ‘What are you talking about, dunger?’ asked one.

  ‘Didn’t you see them?’ asked Mad Argil.

  ‘No!’ answered the three knights together.

  ‘The creatures at the foot of Valdosyr: krags, they are called. They are what threw the boulders that smashed your men’s bones to dust.’

  ‘Servants of Krudon?’ asked the high knight.

  ‘Servants of the mountain,’ answered Mad Argil. ‘Their loyalty is only to the mountain. Anything that climbs the mountain here will be crushed.’ Mad Argil pointed to the right. ‘That is the path you must take.’

  ‘That will take us too long!’

  The high knight agreed with his companion, ‘We will try this way first.’

  The three knights rode up to the front of the army. The high knight gave the order for the front line to approach the rocks. Thirty men and horses slowly advanced forward.

  Mad Argil cautiously stayed near the rear, sanity still somewhat about him. Suddenly, the rocks and stones began to gather and form, tumbling and bashing together, rising up high until they stood enormous and powerful to be seen by all.

  The horses kicked their forelegs high and fell backwards as the krags leaned over and picked up the boulders and rocks around them. They flung them with great ease toward their aggressors with merciless rage. The front two lines were smashed to pieces. On a second order, the Habilon army retreated from the foot of the mountain and the wrath of the krags.

  Just as the high knight thought he had seen the worst from Valdosyr, his bones trembled and his ears were pulled away from the screaming of his dying men. He redirected his attention toward the north-east, toward the path Mad Argil had advised them to take. From that path came an even greater threat than the krags.

  ‘What will we do, my lord?’

  The high knight looked at the other two, then glanced over his army.

  ‘We will stand and fight. Habilon needs loyalty and bravery at this time.’

  A knight raised his right arm and addressed the army with a roar.

  ‘For Habilon!’

  The high knight turned to him. ‘Go, travel with speed.’ Then he looked toward Mad Argil. ‘Bring the dunger with you. He has no purpose here.’ The high knight looked to the other one last time. ‘Go to the pal
ace and warn the council. They must flee Habilon. GO NOW!’

  Then the knight faced north-east again. His eyes fixed upon the three thousand armed goblins marching toward them.

  Chapter 22

  The Orb

  Smolderin rested low on the western edge of Mount Erzkrin, well out of sight from anything watching from high above on the summit.

  Josh, Bortwig and Danthenum had been climbing for a short while, and Josh had been telling the elf and the knight of his meeting with the wizard, when, unexpectedly, there were explosions from the mountain’s summit. Hot molten rocks had blasted up into the twilight skies of Habilon; Krudon’s dragolytes were making their presence felt!

  ‘Quickly!’ ushered Bortwig. ‘The orb!’

  Josh and Danthenum grasped onto the rocks and followed Bortwig up to the top of Erzkrin’s western edge. It was the highest point of the mountain.

  They peered through a gap in two large rocks, glaring down at the lower edges of Erzkrin’s summit. Dragolytes, red and black, lined the entire edge. There were more red dragolytes than black; the red ones were the most fearsome, but black dragolytes were cunning, tactful and very useful in combat.

  ‘They’re not keeping watch,’ noticed Danthenum. ‘It looks like they are waiting for something to happen.’

  Suddenly, Danthenum’s words were confirmed. Krudon walked out from under a ledge, stopped and raised his right hand.

  ‘The orb!’ gasped Bortwig.

  The orb had been kept hidden in a cave in Erzkrin’s summit, guarded by the dragolytes, ever since the day Krudon took it from its royal stand in the southern tower of the king’s palace.

  ‘Now what do we do?’ worried Josh. He was frightened now. He had shown great bravery on his journey, but a part of him from his old world – his life with Henry and Nell, with his school friends, in his familiar safe surroundings – was still with him, in his heart, reminding him of how dangerous the land of Habilon was.