The cats wanted to take me to the castle. Initially, I refused because I didn’t want my father to know that I had snuck out of the palace with a false excuse. It was aching so bad all over my body that I eventually allowed myself to be taken to the castle. Someone brought a stretcher and then I was taken on it to the castle. I closed my eyes along the way. I dozed off, I was so tired. And when I opened my eyes again, I found myself in the hospital wing of the castle on a bed.
The head physician was next to my bed and she had a vial in her hands.
“Drink this, you’ll be all right,” she said.
I emptied the contents of the vial and immediately I felt a rush of life within me. I could feel all my open wounds filling up. I felt reenergised. I knew what the potion was. It was one of those very rare health vials that could be used to reclaim one’s health instantly.
“Would you like to talk to your family?” the physician asked. But before I could reply a message popped up in my vision even as a great sensation took over me.
Congratulations!
You Level up!
You receive a new spell: Long Hands
Using this spell you can elongate your paws, or your hands (if you apply the Human Hands spell beforehand). Your hands would become very powerful and be even able to lift you up. But be careful, once initiated this spell lasts only for a short duration of time. Also, you must have sufficient mana to activate this spell.
I checked out my character sheet immediately. I was so excited. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had actually levelled up. I was stoked to see the higher numbers in my character sheet.
General Information
Name: Timmy
Level: 4
Sex: Male
Race: Cat
Health: 300
Mana: 90
Strength: 33
Stamina: 35
Luck: 30
“Oh, I forgot, I found this in your pocket,” the physician said. And from a nearby table she picked up a small piece of paper and handed it to me. It was the map! “Should I call the king and the queen and the prince to meet you?”
“Yes,” I said, though I didn’t really want to meet any of them.
The physician went out of the room. I prepared myself for some good lectures from my parents. Maybe this time my elder brother Nitty too would join in lecturing me?
The trio entered. All three of them rushed to my side.
“Are you okay, Timmy?” my mother asked, scanning me worriedly with her eyes.
“I am. The physician fed me the health potion,” I replied.
“Why did you go to the librarian’s place?” Nitty asked.
“Minnata is dead,” I found myself saying. Even now I could see Minnata’s blank eyes inside my mind.
“We know,” my father said. “But why did you go to his place?” From the tone of his voice, my father seemed split whether he should be tender with me or if he should scold me at my reckless behaviour. “The guard at the gate told me that you said to him you were going out of the castle under my bidding.”
“It was…” I said and I wasn’t sure whether to speak the truth. All three of them knew my fascination with the goat king. Were they going to laugh at me? I looked my father in the eye, deciding to speak the truth.
“I was in the library,” I said, “when I overheard the librarian talking with a—” I stopped abruptly and looked around the bed almost expecting to see Zunzu somewhere, but he wasn’t there. I tried hard to remember. Zunzu had led my saviours into the alley. I could also remember him sitting on my stomach when the elderly cat had been asking me questions. But I couldn’t remember anything after that. I didn’t know if Zunzu had accompanied me to the castle as I had drifted off to sleep.
“Did you see any small man with me?” I asked my father."His name is Zunzu."
“The cats who brought you here did talk about a small human male… one with wings. But I didn’t see him myself,” my father said.
I wondered where Zunzu had gone. To Minnata’s home?
“What did you do with Minnata’s corpse?” I asked.
“He has already been cremated,” my father replied. “He died violently. He was a good cat… Now carry on with what you were saying.”
Already cremated? I reckoned I had been sleeping for a considerable while then.
“Well, I overheard Minnata and Zunzu talking about a treasure. One related to the… the…”
“The?” my father raised a rather severe brow as though he already knew what was coming.
“The goat king,” I finished uneasily and avoided the eyes of my family members.
There was silence for a while. Then my father spoke.
“Continue,” he said.
“Well, one of the advisors interrupted their talk so Minnata asked Zunzu to go to his home and said that he would talk to him later,” I said. “Zunzu didn’t want to leave the library, but Minnata forced him to go. I was too curious, so after Minnata’s hours at the library were over, I decided to follow him to his house. When I reached there, I waited outside his door. Apparently the map had been sent by his brother. But Minnata and Zunzu couldn’t talk much when I heard some people enter the house through a window on the other side. There was a lot of struggle. I was afraid, but I entered the house once the intruders were gone. Minnata was dying and he told me to get the map, which had been taken by the intruders.”
“So you went after the intruders all alone?” my father said, “Throwing all caution to the wind?”
I didn’t reply back. At that moment I wanted to tell my father that I had received a spell and levelled up after a long while because I had dared to embark on the quest to know more about the treasure. I also wanted to tell him that despite being a pathetic swordsman I had successfully fought against the intruders on my own until the other cats had arrived. But I didn’t say anything. I was well aware that if I did my father would say I was boasting.
“And did you get the map?” my mother ask.
I nodded. I held up the piece of paper.
“Part of it only,” I said.
I was about to put the paper back into my pocket when my father snatched it from me. He looked intently at it for a while and then he crumpled it into a ball. I felt like someone had crumpled me into a ball.
“I think the best thing for you to do now is to entirely forget about this,” my father said and I was amazed that there was not the slightest trace of guilt in his voice for destroying something for which I had put my life at stake and for which even Minnata had died.
“This map has cost us the life of the late librarian. Whoever is after this map is dangerous and they can obviously go to extreme limits to acquire it. This is the first instance of murder in our peaceful city in the last two years, and I cannot afford to lose the peace in this city at any costs. I shall have this partial map disposed.”
Saying so, my father turned at the spot and he left the room.
My mother and my brother stayed for a while.
“Father shouldn’t have done that,” Nitty suddenly said, staring fixedly at me. “I mean you have always been crazy about this myth of the goat king… which might not be a myth from what it looks like.” For the first time ever I felt a strong brotherhood with Nitty. I could see that he was visibly angry with father for what father had done.
“He just cares for his kingdom,” my mother said to Nitty. “When you are a ruler you have to keep in mind the people over whom you rule. You cannot simply take some rash decision that can end up costing people’s lives.”
Nitty didn’t say anything. He turned at the spot and he left the room.
“Everyone said the goat king story was a myth,” I said to my mother, “but is it?”
“Do not mess too much with something that can destroy you,” my mother said.
“But… look mother, I am still alive!” I said. “Because I wanted to know about the treasure, I ended up experiencing what it feels like to be in the midst of a real fight!” I
had ignored most forms of combat all my life and I had not paid particular attention in any training session. If anything, during a combat training I would be thinking too much about what the others would think if I lost. My focus was never the combat but the thoughts of others. However, during the real fight today, all my attention had been to do as much damage to my enemies and save myself. I wasn’t thinking of the disappointed looks that my father would give me if I lost because I was too busy evading swords that could have chopped off my head.
“How many people attacked you?” my mother asked.
“Four male cats and a female. The female was very strong.”
“Well, you are lucky that you survived them,” my mother said.
“I did not just survive them, mother. I levelled up and I even got a new spell!”
My mother’s eyes widened. She knew well that the last time I had levelled up was more than a year ago.
“Really?” Mother said in disbelief.
“Look mother,” I said. I had ached to try out the new spell I had received but I hadn’t because my family members had come. But now, I activated the Long Hands spell. With the command of my mind, I could elongate my paw easily. My mother’s eyes were on the verge of popping out as my paw elongated so much that I could touch the wall so far away in front of me.
“See, mother?” I said. “Is this not a cool spell?”
“Why didn’t you tell about this to your father?” my mother asked with a small frown.
“I would have if he had only waited!” I said. But I wasn’t very sure of that. I was at a point in my life that I was so used to disappointing father that a strange reluctance came within me whenever I was in a capable position to actually impress him.
“I will tell about your new spell to him,” Mother said.
“Please don’t,” I said. “Let him find out on his own some day.”
My mother looked rather puzzled at these words of mine.
“You know mother,” I said, “I could have died today. Yet, I have never felt so alive in my entire life as I do today. I took a decision of my own, mother. It felt great.”
My mother sighed as she looked away from me. Her face was convulsing with emotion.
“Can you make me a promise, Timmy?” she asked me. I did not like the sound of that at all.
“What promise?”
“Can you promise me that you would never again go after anything that has to do with the goat king?’
I did not answer.
Chapter 6
After a while I returned to my own chamber from the hospital wing as I didn’t see any reason why I should remain there. I told a servant to bring me a dinner as I had barely eaten anything the entirety of the night.
It was almost the break of dawn and, as I was gobbling down the food, I heard a sound and was pleasantly surprised to see that it was Zunzu.
“Where did you go earlier?” I asked Zunzu.
“Here,” Zunzu answered, “waiting for you.”
“I do not have the map,” I told Zunzu, gulping down a glass of water, “if that’s what you want from me. I had managed to get a portion of the map… but my father took it. I am sorry but I don’t think I can do anything anymore.”
Zunzu stared at me, hope shattering in his eyes that were rather large for his face.
“Minnata died,” Zunzu said.
“I know,” I said, “but everybody wants me to be away from anything that has something to do with the myth of the goat king. Besides, I think it’s best if you do not associate yourself too much with this quest to get the treasure, if that is what you and Minnata’s brother are really after. You might end up getting the treasure, but you might also lose your lives. Innocent Minnata already lost his. If you hadn’t shown up then he would still be alive.”
I didn’t really know what I was babbling. All the while I was seeing my mother inside my mind. I did not understand her. I understood father more or less. All he wanted was to make a ruler out of me. But mother… she would try to inspire me and then when I made the smallest effort towards something after being inspired, she would show a different face and take an action that would break my spirits. She had been so my entire life.
A sobbing sound reached my ears and I realised it was Zunzu. Had I said too much to him? I should have definitely not told him that he was responsible for Minnata’s death.
I opened my mouth to apologise, when Zunzu flapped his wings and flew out through the window.
“Hey!” I cried, running to the window myself. But Zunzu was already gone. He was a fast flyer and very soon he was a mere dot in the sky. I stood at the window for a while, feeling miserable.
And then, staring at the first rays of the sun taking over the sky I had a strange experience. Suddenly, I felt myself cut off from everything. I felt like I was no longer in the castle.
I imagined a cat in the sky. Me. And I imagined my father. The wide blue sky was spread out in front of me and I wanted to travel its length and breath. But my father demanded that I remained at one place and do only the things that he wanted me to do, things that he thought were right, things that I didn’t necessarily give a shit about.
The wide sky kept calling me, but I was so afraid that I never listened to the calls of the sky, even though in my heart I knew that listening to the sky was the right thing to do. Were there perils involved? Absolutely. The blue sky could be filled with dark clouds any moment and a storm could occur and lightening could strike me. Yet, I was ready to face the ugliness of the sky. But I was so afraid that I never did anything to break free from my bindings.
And one day I died.
And that was the end of my tale.
Very abruptly, the world came back to me, as I realised I was still in my chamber with the solid floor below me, looking out through the window. I was so overtaken with emotions that I began to shake violently. I knew that a day would come when I would no longer be in the world of Arun. The moments before I died my entire life would flash in front of me. I would see all the chances I had been given to live a life of my wish and I would also see how cowardly I had ignored all those glorious chances. And then I would die. I would die in sadness and in regret.
I was sure that father hadn’t already disposed off the map piece. He would consider several times if it was the right thing to do. He was probably still in his chamber at his table looking intently at the map, trying to decide whether destroying the map was the right thing to do, or if it would only bring greater harm to his people instead of lessening the harm. Maybe whoever was after the map would be pissed off if he destroyed the part of the map?
I shook my head, gritting my teeth. Today I was going to reclaim my life!
I would demand father to give the map to me and I would tell him that I would embark on the quest to get the treasure. Or else poor Minnata would have died for nothing.
I went out of my room with great determination. But as I was climbing the stairs to my father’s chamber, I felt the determination begin to wear off me. I grimaced at myself. This was what always happened. I however kept urging myself and after a few moments I found myself standing outside of my father’s chamber.
“His majesty is sleeping, prince,” one of the guards said.
“I would like to meet him still,” I said though I doubted if my father was actually sleeping.
The guards looked uneasily at each other.
“His majesty has not had much sleep,” one of them said, “could you not delay what you want to speak to him for a few hours?” The guard said this respectfully, but I couldn’t help but let anger crawl into my head. I had gathered so much courage to come to father’s chamber and here was this guard trying to be an additional hindrance.
“Look, let me enter. I am his son,” I said and I did not try to hide my anger. “What I want to say cannot be delayed.”
The guards looked at each other uneasily again.
“Okay, prince, as you please,” they finally said. I pushed the door open and peeked in
side. My father was not at the table. He and mother were in the bed, asleep. I reckoned father wasn’t as interested in the map as I had thought he would be. I went inside the room and closed the door.
For a moment, I just stared at my parents. My father looked so much like an old cat these days. My mother often used to say about his heroics and adventures. I reckoned the King Kitty of the past had been an entirely different cat. My father rarely ever left the castle nowadays. He had ceased doing anything fun. Was it the stress of ruling the kingdom that was catching up on him? Or was it simply the fact that he was ageing? Age certainly had the ability to squeeze out both physical and mental youth from a person.
My father’s table bore no signs of the map.
But then my eyes fell on the fireplace. The fire was burning there and… there was a black ball of crumpled paper in the fire.
So this was how he had disposed off the map?
My heart sank. I shouldn’t have told about the map to father. I was sad and absentmindedly I walked towards the fireplace and sat down next to it, feeling the heat on my fur.
With a stick I prodded the destroyed map. I was surprised that the map didn’t crumble to ash instantly. I moved the map out of the fire using the stick. And lo! The moment the map was out of the fire that a sudden change overcame it. It resumed its original form instantly as though it had never been put in the fire in the first place.
I picked up the map, knowing that magic was at play here. And then, a message popped up in my vision.
Heat has activated the portal to the quest for the goat king’s treasure.
The portal opens in ten seconds and will last for a total of twenty seconds.
You must select one of the locations in the map and enter the portal if you wish to go on the quest before the portal expires.
The message disappeared. A black orb materialised in front of me. It was the portal for sure. I had never seen a portal of this kind in the past. I gulped. I had a feeling that if I entered the portal it would not be very easy for me to come back to the castle. What must I do? The orb of blackness beckoned me. I was in a dilemma. A timer appeared in my vision and the countdown to twenty began. Ten seconds had already passed. Only ten more remained. If I didn’t make my decision now, I would never be able to go on the quest that had captured my imagination ever since I had been a child. Seven seconds. My heart was beating like a drum. I glanced at my parents sleeping peacefully. What would dawn upon them if they woke up to find me gone from the castle? There was a good chance that I might die in this quest and I might never get to see my family ever again.
Catheroes Page 30
