“Sorry we’re late!” she yelled, plucking Kern off the ground with her huge talons. She soared upwards, spiralling towards the moon before dropping him to the ground from an almighty height.
Daray was now joined by the rest of the Nomeds. He tossed Jael’s decapitated corpse to them and said, “Ekat siht laem kcab ot eht retsam, rociN dna I lliw lead htiw eseht selicebmi!” And with that, the Nomeds took Jael’s body and climbed back into the trees, clicking and spitting as they did so. The Halfses were now torn between fighting the Nomeds and standing strong to guard their Berthold.
“I know it’s hard, but we must stay and protect Zavier,” Hazel said. Then, turning to Aurora, she declared, “Aurora, it’s down to you, the Warriors and those… those…?”
“Awesome dragons!” Tobias piped excitedly.
“Yes, Tobes, I suppose they are awesome dragons,” she replied.
Aurora, still angry and vengeful, charged at Daray. Nicor positioned himself on all fours, put his mouth to the ground and blew with tremendous force, whereupon the snow lifted and separated into millions of swirling particles, creating a spiralling blizzard. Aurora gritted her teeth, squinted her eyes and attempted to push her way through the snowstorm, but the wind and snow hammered against her huge body, pushing her a good two steps back for each step forward that she attempted to take.
“Francis, we must help them!” Ice cried, above the blustery noise of the blizzard. “If we roar from the deepest depths of our stomachs, we should be able to produce fire,” she declared, “but you must focus and fly straight, as we have to aim the flames on either side of Aurora without burning her. Do you think you can manage that?” she asked, concern in her voice.
“Sure, I can manage that!” Francis said, trying to convince himself that it wouldn’t be a problem.
The huge Hudor Drakos circled the night sky, then, soaring at high speed, they approached either side of the swirling blizzard. The wind was getting stronger the closer they got to it, causing Francis to be knocked off balance and he began to wobble rapidly from side to side in the turbulent air. At the very last second, he managed to right himself and, in sync with Ice, he took a deep breath in and then exhaled a huge fireball of flames with such power that he sent himself flying backwards and plummeting to the ground.
The blizzard petered out, the swirling snow clearing to expose a retreating Daray and a cursing and sizzling Nicor. His burnt skin had begun to slough and he shrieked with pain as the evil pair disappeared back into the dark shadows of the forest.
Ice landed gently beside Zavier. “I’m so sorry that we didn’t get here sooner,” she wept.
“Ice, Zavier is badly wounded, he has lost a lot of blood and I fear that he was seconds from death,” explained Jazmine.
“Was?” asked Ice.
“Yes, Shannon has frozen him to preserve him until we find help! Is there any way of saving him?” Jazmine pleaded.
“Yes,” replied Ice. “There is a recovery enchantment, but to perform it I have to have a piece of one of those that has caused him harm,” she said sadly.
“So let’s get this straight, are you saying that in order to save Zavier’s life, we need a piece of a Nomed?” asked Jazmine nervously.
“Yes, I’m afraid so,” Ice sighed.
“Hey guys, I think I can help,” Francis called out. They turned to where his voice was coming from and there in the thick snow lay the huge Hudor Drakos, still sprawled out on his back in the exact spot in which he had landed after producing his huge fireball.
“Agh, shut up, Boogly Eyes. How on earth are you going to help?” Aaron grumbled.
“Well, I suggest you get your skinny little horse butt over here and see what I’ve got underneath my big fat dragon butt,” Francis said, beaming with pride.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” groaned Aaron and he, Ice and Aurora went to find out what Francis was going on about.
“Okay, you larger than normal annoyance, what is under your huge arse?” grunted Aaron.
“Have some respect. Haven’t you noticed the size of my new talons?” smirked Francis, waving his enormous, sharp-tipped claws at Aaron.
“Oh, just explain what you’re on about, would you?” Aaron asked impatiently.
Francis rolled, gently lifting one side of his dragon butt and there in the snow, looking up at them all, was the snarling and hissing vampire Nomed, Kern! Aurora, insane with fury, could not control her loathing, for he was the Nomed that had killed Jael in front of her very eyes. She instantly leapt on Kern, growling, clawing and biting at him viciously, but the evil Nomed, although injured, managed to fight free of Aurora and fled screaming toward the forest.
“There you go, Ice,” Aurora said and she held out a torn, slimy, stinking piece of Nomed flesh. “NOW you can do your enchantment,” she smiled.
Ice hooked the reeking Nomed flesh onto the end of one of her huge dragon claws, made her way over to where Zavier lay and dangled it over his frozen body.
“Thank you, Shannon,” she said. “You have undoubtedly saved Zavier’s life by preserving him in this frozen state. But now you must stand aside while I perform the recovery enchantment and attempt to bring this noble Berthold back to us.”
Shannon dispersed back into her smaller form and that of the hundreds of tiny snowflake butterflies and Ice Elves that had previously formed her, creating a gentle fluttering of snow around all those that watched and waited anxiously for Zavier to recover.
Ice began the recovery enchantment:
“With this flesh I right the wrong and as it dissipates, the harm that was previously caused shall be undone.
“Stand back!” she ordered.
Everyone took a step back. Ice took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. Then, opening her eyes and outstretching her massive scaly neck, she exhaled a short burst of flames, causing the stinking flesh that she was dangling above Zavier’s body to incinerate. As the flesh turned to ash, it scattered and fell over Zavier’s frozen body and the icy frost that had been covering him and conserving him melted, revealing a lustrous silver-grey coat that shone in the crisp moonlight. Zavier’s wounds had gone! In fact, he looked even healthier and more radiant than he had done before the attack. His chest rose and as he took in a deep breath of nourishing air, his nostrils began to flare. Then, as he exhaled into the cold night air, warm, moist clouds of misty breath billowed from his mouth and nose. It was only then that the group sighed with relief, knowing that Zavier was indeed going to be okay.
Zavier sprang to his feet and shook his silver mane. Chester took up his travelling position on top of Zavier’s head, hopped over to his ear and whispered softly, “Good to have you back with us, my friend.”
“It’s good to be back,” Zavier said, glancing up at his faithful friend.
Zavier addressed the group. “I thank you all for your loyalty, you are strong and kind. I wouldn’t have made it through this ordeal without the support of each and every one of you. But we still haven’t completed our task and we may still be faced with many more dangers along the way. The sun should soon begin to rise and we must continue on with the journey to West Fishtail Mountain to find its Berthold, Takoda. Let’s get packed up and get moving,” he neighed, then cantered back towards the cabin.
The group respected Zavier’s dignity and they knew that the great Berthold did not want a fuss, so there were to be no tears or rejoicing. Instead, he would want them to regroup and get on with the task at hand, the very important task that may just help them to save Liberty. Jazmine and Hazel had transformed into their Human forms in order to pack the essentials from the cabin and then they loaded them along with the Fire Fairy pods and starfish lanterns onto the rest of the Halfses.
Zavier walked through the thick snow and stopped in front of Aurora. He had to lift his head to speak to her. This was something of a novelty as the nineteen hands high shire horse rarely had to do this, because he towered over most of Liberty’s creatures, but Aurora stood ten feet tall and on this occ
asion she was the one towering above him.
“It’s an honour to meet you, Aurora. I’m very sorry that you have lost some of your mountain’s creatures and I thank you for staying with us and helping us to fight against the Nomeds. I must say, though, I was a little shocked when you arrived. I have heard much about you, the mysterious Berthold of East Fishtail Mountain, but I was under the impression that you were a snow leopard and not a huge and mighty Meh-Teh.”
“Zavier, it has been an honour to fight alongside some of the good creatures that still remain in Liberty. I’m sure that together we will overcome the evil Nomeds. I spoke with Francis the dragon earlier and he told me all about the Great Prophet’s request. Zavier, I will gladly accompany you to the meadow once we have found Takoda.”
“Thank you, Aurora.”
“Oh, and Zavier, you heard right,” she said, as she turned and walked away.
What does she mean? Zavier wondered.
As he glanced back toward her, he was surprised, for what he saw was not a huge and mighty Meh-Teh at all, but the soft, swishing tail of a beautiful and graceful snow leopard as Aurora, Berthold of East Fishtail Mountain, walked away through the deep, golden snow of dawn.
Chapter 21
Balam
The Nomeds scurried through the woodland canopy as they made their way back to the swamp with Jael’s corpse, which was going to be given as an offering to their master, their king, Balam! Jael’s decapitated corpse was treated with utter disrespect as it was hurled through the air, tossed from one Nomed to another, from tree top to tree top. As the Nomeds neared their home ground, the beautiful bluebells that usually carpeted Bluebell Wood gradually thinned, until there were none at all and the warm, dappled sunlight that broke through the trees shone no more. Instead of a carpet of warm and vibrant bluebells, the ground became dark, cold and boggy, a thick slurry of black mud that disturbingly wriggled and squirmed as mud snakes, axolotls, slugs and worms writhed within it. The trees here were dead and lifeless, their skeletal branches draped in a cloak of thick fog that oppressively hung around the swamp, shrouding the whole area and completely blocking out all of the reassuring light and warmth of the sun. This area was cold, soulless, dark, damp and dismal. This area was home to the Nomeds and their king, Balam. This area was Shabriri Swamp.
The Nomeds clicked and cackled excitedly as they dropped their prized offering from the tree tops. Jael’s corpse struck many branches as it fell to the ground and now it lay bloodied and dirty in the thick, black swamp mud. His once beautiful, pure white coat, now soiled and matted with blood and earth, was completely unrecognisable. Any remaining blood slowly seeped from Jael’s neck wound and oozed into the swamp’s mud. As the blood and the mud amalgamated, the mud began to shift, not as it had done with the wriggling and writhing of the snakes and worms, but much, much, more significantly. First, one clawed hand caked in mud emerged from within the dark sludge and then another. Then a face broke through the swamp’s surface, shortly followed by another face and another. The creature had been lying on its back completely submerged within the mud. The three gaunt faces opened their eyelids, revealing pure black eyes; eyes that were even more dark and sinister than the swamp itself from which they had emerged. The three heads and their attached necks slowly lifted up and out of the thick and gloopy sludge, but instead of being followed by three torsos, the three heads preceded only one single body. This body was emaciated in appearance, its ribs were clearly visible, black and red mud snakes nestled and spiralled within the crevices between them. But far from being weak and fragile, this emaciated body was strong and powerful, evil and sinister. This body belonged to the three-headed Nomed Master… Nomed King… Balam.
Balam rose to his feet. The clicking and cackling Nomeds dropped down from the tree tops to revere their king that now stood before them. The eerie feeling of dread that engulfed this part of Liberty increased and more and more of the evil creatures began to emerge from within the darkness of the mud. Balam snapped the limbs one by one from Jael’s corpse, then tossed them aside for his servants. The Nomeds, male adults, female adults and juveniles, wrestled each other in the mud in an attempt to secure themselves a small piece of the meal each. Balam picked up the mountain goat’s remaining torso and, with his three sets of razor-sharp, jagged teeth, he frenziedly stripped the corpse bit by bit of all its flesh and viscera, reducing the large mountain goat right back to its skeletal bone-structure within minutes.
After the feeding frenzy, the Nomeds began their mating ritual. Each mature male fought for and grabbed a mature female and began to twist tongues with them. Once their tongues were tied together, the males regurgitated a small amount of the meal that they had just eaten into the mouths of their mates, the females quickly swallowed the regurgitated meal and then the Nomed pairs’ tongues untied. Released from the males’ tongues, the females instantly dropped to their knees in the swamp and began to retch harshly. Their jaws widened, dislocating, their eyes rolled and with one final screaming retch, the females each regurgitated a large, slug-like infant which dropped into the mud, burrowing into its sinister darkness, where they would remain hidden, feeding on any of the creatures that were unfortunate enough to squirm past them. The infants were to stay hidden there within the darkness, feeding and growing at an alarming rate, until eventually they would be ready to emerge as juvenile Nomeds.
The more the Nomeds fed on the good creatures of Liberty, the more they were able to reproduce. And as the evil Nomeds grew in both strength and number, they hunted more frequently and more ferociously. Therefore the already immense threat to Liberty continued to grow at an alarming rate.
Chapter 22
Fishtail Falls
Large areas of winter forest darkened, eclipsed in the vast shadows of Ice and Francis as the impressive pair of Hudor Drakos soared above the snow-capped pine trees. They were on their way to Fishtail Falls, to find Takoda, Berthold of West Fishtail Mountains. From below, the Hudor Drakos appeared as huge, dark, oppressive objects that blocked out the warmth and light of the sun. But from above, the true beauty and wonder of these spectacular creatures became apparent. Their usually dark grey and green scales were gleaming, glistening as if made of glass. The shining scales of glass formed colourful, dancing rainbow prisms of light that created an aura of beauty around these otherwise fierce-looking creatures. Francis was now fully accustomed to his new body. He soared gracefully through the sky, spiralling and weaving around any obstacle with ease. Ice, however, was still not quite trusting of his new-found flying abilities and ensured that she maintained a safe distance behind him. Unlike the waterfall in the east, the lower falls of West Fishtail Mountains were not frozen and the sound of their loud roar signalled to Francis and Ice that they were fast approaching their next destination, the home of the last Berthold, Takoda.
Zavier and the others followed on foot. They were travelling at great speed, galloping and running through the snowy forest, but even at such a speed, they were unable to keep up with the pace set by the soaring dragons and they didn’t arrive at the falls until at least an hour after Francis and Ice had. As the group approached the foot of the falls, they noticed that they were alone. Francis and Ice were nowhere to be seen.
“Wishful thinking, I know, but surely we haven’t lost that lumbering, boogly-eyed annoyance?” Aaron sniggered.
Zavier turned abruptly and stood nose to nose with the heavily built young stallion. “Aaron, I will not tolerate such disrespect towards another Berthold. Have you not considered that something terrible may have happened to them?” he said angrily.
Jazmine looked at Aaron disapprovingly.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry, jeez,” Aaron said, not quite understanding why it was that no one else in the group found Francis as irritating as he did.
Aaron sensed the displeasure that his words had caused and took himself away from the group. He stood beside the deep pool into which the falls cascaded, mesmerised by the billowing spray and the roaring power of
the colliding waters. The loud roar and the rising clouds of water vapour concealed the emerging Hudor Drakos and an unsuspecting Aaron was taken completely by surprise as Francis and Ice broke through the surface of the water, exploding upwards, out of the pool and into the crisp clear sky.
“Aaagghh, damn you, Boogly Eyes!” Aaron groaned, shaking his drenched body from nose to tail in an attempt to shake off a little of the water that had soaked him as they made their explosive appearance. The group could not help but laugh and as the falls’ waters roared, so did they, with laughter. Francis and Ice found a suitable-sized clearing within the pine trees to land and were shortly joined by the group.
“Ice, do you know where we may be able to find Takoda?” asked Zavier.
“Takoda can usually be found in one of the mountain caves, but unfortunately there is a whole network of caves throughout West Fishtail Mountains, so he could be anywhere,” she explained.
“Okay, well, in that case I suggest we head over to the West Cabin, gather our mountain-climbing equipment and start searching straight away, while we still have daylight on our side,” said Zavier.
“Ohhhh yeahhh! Mountaineering, baby!” April squealed with excitement.
There was no time for rest. As soon as they reached the cabin, Zavier began his selection:
“Firstly, Tobias, you are to stay here at the cabin, no argument.”
Tobias nodded his head acceptingly, deciding that he wouldn’t argue, not this time, not after all that Zavier had been through. Zavier had risked his life for the good of Liberty and very nearly lost it in the process. Tobias still wanted to be part of the fight, to avenge his friend’s death, to help save Liberty, but he knew now that in order to do that, he must listen to and respect the decisions of his elders, for they would certainly do anything for him.
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