by Joanne Durda
“We will start our ten-mile walk now! Xnug, you take the lead! Pentangle, follow alongside and assist with their clumsiness for a while!”
The Thorn Army had begun their warrior training by their ten-mile walk in a single file line. Savagio turned around and chuckled to himself at their clumsiness. They were stronger than they thought, but they were off balance due to their heavy, thick thorns, and needed to be balanced properly. They needed to walk to get accustomed to carrying these thick, bulging thorns in order to attain this even balance.
Pentangle spotted Savagio’s reaction of chuckling at the thorns. He reproached him. “Do not make fun of what you do not know and understand. Learn first about our thorns, then see if you laugh later at them,” Pentangle warned. Pentangle did not flinch a muscle as he turned and walked away from Savagio. He did not care to hear whatever remark Savagio had for him. Savagio did not like the last words chosen by Pentangle. Apprehension had set in, again.
Savagio decided he would keep his word to these Monks and train their strange army, but deep inside his heart, he knew something was amiss. I will have to keep my eyes and ears open towards this kingdom for the rest of my life, Savagio thought to himself. “I will hold myself responsible for whatever may come ever after,” he whispered.
While Savagio worked with the training of the Thorn Army all day, Ushi and Goldest rode into what once was the Kingdom of the Ladybugs. This overgrown, unkempt kingdom, which had fallen into rot and decay, was unknown to Ushi; only Goldest knew where they were.
“I have never before seen a kingdom so overgrown and unkempt as this. All the kingdoms within the Domain hold beauty. It is obvious that this is a deserted kingdom,” Ushi remarked.
Goldest began to sniffle and croak silently as her eyes panned the uncared-for kingdom. Ugly, menacing weeds grew in abundance everywhere. They came upon a red castle overgrown with climbing vines. The vines caressed the outer red stone walls as if it was hiding the secrets within it. Goldest knew instantly that this was once the Ladybug Castle. She fought back the tears welling up inside her golden eyes. Her sniffles started to become more prominent.
“A red castle! How beautiful! What kingdom could this possibly be? Why is it deserted so?” Ushi wondered out loud. He had heard Goldest’s conspicuous sniffling, and instantly knew something was about to be unwrapped. He patiently waited for her to tell him.
Goldest jumped down from Niciu’s rump and hopped up some of the red stone stairs towards the front door of the red castle. She looked upwards at the tall fortress. Ushi rode up fast and dismounted. His curiosity overcame him. “What is it, Goldest? You seem to know something about this kingdom.”
“Let us go inside,” Goldest croaked sadly. Ushi stilled both horses and followed Goldest as she continued to hop up the red stone stairs. He opened the huge red door, which creaked loudly, and they walked cautiously inside.
“If anyone be in here, they certainly must have heard this ancient door open,” Ushi remarked.
“There be no one in here,” Goldest croaked sadly as she sniffled.
Goldest hopped inside the deserted master dining hall. Her teary eyes panned the hall as she sniffled uncontrollably. Ushi went down on bended knee and looked at the falling tears splashing into puddles from Goldest’s eyes.
“You are forming pools with your tears, Goldest,” Ushi softly informed her. “I can see this castle means something to you. What secret do you hold so dear within your heart that you cannot speak of it?”
Goldest’s sobbing broke Ushi’s heart. She is my friend and I feel deeply for her, a distressed Ushi thought to himself.
“This castle is the Ladybug Castle in the Kingdom of the Ladybugs,” Goldest told Ushi.
“I have heard the silent, unspoken rumors in the past that all the ladybugs in the Kingdom of the Willows once dwelled in the Kingdom of the Ladybugs. They speak of this kingdom as vanishing from the Domain.”
“No, the kingdom has never vanished – it just lies deserted and forgotten about. Whatever and whoever were left, fled to take refuge in the Kingdom of the Willows many, many years ago. They made their homes amongst the vast hills beyond the mighty willows and its colorful ponds,” Goldest sadly informed Ushi. “The people dwelling in that area of the willows just do not speak about what had happened many, many years before. To speak of it is like opening up a closed wound of memories that were meant to be forgotten about.”
Ushi’s suspicions rose as he slowly and carefully told her, “I had also heard from silent whispers that there was a yellow-haired golden princess who once upon a time dwelled here. She was a golden princess who was worth her weight in gold.”
Goldest croaked a sigh. “I am that princess, Ushi.”
Ushi’s heart sank even deeper upon hearing those words. Both Ushi and Goldest sighed together. “I had a mysterious feeling within my heart that you were more than a special golden fairy.” He sat down and made himself comfortable next to Goldest. “You must speak of your hidden golden secret within the folds of your golden heart, Goldest. I will listen.”
“Zea, the evil father of the Wizard of the Seventh Realm, destroyed our kingdom and killed my parents and grandparents.”
“Yes, I had heard he was a cosmic evil force. If he called upon you, you were marked for death. He was one who never had a shadow surrounding him. An evil one shows no shadow.” Ushi took a deep breath, with the weight of past memories recurring. “So, that was why you took it upon yourself to rid this Domain of Leo, his son, whom you had dissolved into the boiling red well inside the Cuspid Castle. I seem to understand now that you were really more than Marcus’s escort. What is the beginning to this story?”
“My grandfather was a mystical wizard himself. He was attracted to the inexplicable. It was sometimes baffling to understand some of the magic that he toyed with for his own personal pleasure. My grandmother would get so frustrated with him and his incantations. He always meant well, he just made a lot of boo-boos. He blundered, as usual, and transformed me into this golden frog so that I could escape with the ladybugs and not be killed. The ladybugs and I had fled to the Kingdom of the Willows.”
“Now I understand why that kingdom has such an abundance of ladybugs! Rumors can be true secrets. Please explain to me, Goldest, why your grandfather didn’t turn you into a golden ladybug? In that way, you could have flown with them for protection.”
“That was the blunder! He was supposed to do so in the first place.” She giggled as memories came back of him. “He always wrongly estimated his spells of wizardry. He tried so hard to be the most perfect wizard; but alas, that was not to be. He always had the right intentions, but wasn’t always successful in one’s needs, intent or expectations, in his overzealous ways of taking care of the undone, which was usually taken care of in a very wrong way. My parents and grandmother realized one day that he was not all there.” Her tears of sorrow had now turned to tears of giggles with her past memories. She started to hiccup.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Goldest. That was probably why Zea was able to overtake him and this kingdom with his cryptic black magic.”
“Zea was powerful with a most exceptional, mighty army back in those days. When they called upon our kingdom, my parents and grandparents knew that we were all doomed. No one dared to come to our rescue, so scared were the other kingdoms of him.”
“Why did he choose your kingdom and not any of the others?”
“Because at that time he wanted no other wizards to be in existence that could ever harm his only young son, Leo, once he no longer existed to be,” Goldest informed Ushi. “Leo was never as powerful as his father once was. My ignorant grandfather might have been a blunderer when it came to wizardry, but he could still be a future threat. His ensorcellment could have used some improvement, but he was still a strong, compelling influence with some of his magical spells and antidotes.”
“Well, the kingdoms need no longer fear the evil wizards of centuries past. They are all nothing but ineffectual memorie
s floating among the purple billowy masses. They can no longer harm anyone or any kingdom,” Ushi remarked.
Silence followed as Goldest sobbed and wept, her tears splashing into puddles – the transparent memories all coming back to her. Ushi took a white cloth handkerchief, which was embroidered and given to him as a token of love from the Tooth Fairy Princess, and gently dried her golden eyes. “My heart goes out for you, Goldest.” He paused in thought and then continued on. “Now I understand why most of the people who fled from this kingdom made the Kingdom of Willows their home – with most building their dwellings beyond the colorful lakes and ponds, probably to stay close to the ladybugs.”
“The ladybugs have multiplied throughout the years. I know they would love to come back home with their children to their own kingdom – the very home of their ancestors,” Goldest told Ushi.
“And so would its peoples.” Ushi pondered on the subject matter for several seconds before speaking his thoughts. “We shall take a detour back to the Kingdom of the Willows, bring back the ladybugs and its peoples with their descendants, who originally belonged to this kingdom. We shall ask the Queen of the Willows and the little Princess Augean for their help in restoring this castle and its kingdom. Why, I will ask the Willow Warriors to come back with us and help with the rebuilding and replanting of the land back to its original state.”
Goldest was pleased that Ushi had thought about her and her kingdom. She always thought of herself as the keeper of Ushi’s heart after she had befriended him, but she realized now that he was also the keeper of her heart, too. A very special warrior, thought Goldest and smiled to herself, as Ushi thought at the same time, A very special golden princess. Goldest’s tears were slowly dried away by a gentle, caring hand.
“I know within my heart that it is possible to revive and restore this colorful red kingdom, make it as it once was. But the wretched memory of having to watch my parents and grandparents slaughtered unroyally at the hands of Zea, will never cease to go away.”
“Time will eventually heal your emotional wounds and mend your nightmares, Goldest.”
“Not my time! It just continues to roam on and on and on. Right now, I do not belong to any kingdom!”
“You are wrong, Goldest. You belong to the Kingdom of the Ladybugs. Come, let’s look at the condition the rest of the castle is in. We shall pay that visit to the Kingdom of the Willows at first light tomorrow. You will see, the Queen and Augean will help us.”
“Maybe rebuilding my kingdom and my castle will help me to forget the pain that is harbored in my heart forever,” Goldest stated somberly.
Ushi rose to take a look around the castle and to see how horrifying the condition of it might be. Goldest hopped beside him, doing her own inspections. There was no time for tears now.
“It is time for you to dream pleasant dreams about your future, instead of reliving the deplorable nightmares that have tormented you and your heart for so long,” Ushi remarked to her as they made their way through the castle. She deserves to be happy again, Ushi thought to himself.
They did not notice the lurking, sinister shadow of a black-hooded figure who silently got up and withdrew from the shadows cast upon the castle’s main dining hall after listening to their conversation.
After inspecting the sound condition of the castle itself, Ushi made himself vegetable soup over an open fire in the hearth with the fresh vegetables he found still growing in the unattended, overgrown gardens. Goldest selected a tower room for comfort and sleep. Unblurred memories came flooding back to her. She sat on the red stone sill of the tower room window and watched a brazen sunset over her torn and unkempt kingdom – taken over by unsightly weeds. Soon, a starry sky with a crescent moon rose over the land. Ushi quietly approached her and looked out the window with her. He smiled down at the melancholy gold piece.
“The night has painted a beautiful, most perfect crescent moon in the bluish midnight sky for good fortune tonight,” Ushi remarked to her, hoping to raise her spirits. “A full moon you have to be leery of, but a perfect crescent moon brings on the dreams of success and good fortune. You should sleep very well tonight, Goldest.”
“The shining platinum stars have completed a most beauteous picture of perfection,” Goldest chimed in with a sigh.
“We have a long ride tomorrow. Best to turn in, Goldest,” Ushi remarked with seriousness.
Goldest sighed and jumped down from the sill, over to her inviting blanket. Her memories had exhausted her. Ushi crawled into his blankets and was soon asleep, next to the fire he had built in the room’s hearth. His body was still chilled to the bone from spending the previous night on the marble floor in the Kingdom of Marble. The warmth of the fire was comforting to him after spending a sleepless night before.
Goldest slept fitfully that night, even though the room was warm and comforting. Her star-crossed nightmares were of no comfort to her. The crescent moon did nothing for her. She tossed and turned as she made distressed sounds and continuously called out to “Esbri” – her favored Gypsy Warrior, from the Kingdom of the Gypsies. Later, as her nightmares quieted down, Goldest dreamed of her and Esbri together, sitting on their magnificent thrones next to one another with golden crowns upon their heads – them being the King and Queen of the Kingdom of the Ladybugs. On the floor of the castle’s main dining hall, thousands of colorful ladybugs were paying homage to them. A smile came to her fat red lips as she finally fell into a pleasant sleep.
Ushi slept like a blanketed rock, making no movement or sound whatsoever.
The next morning, Goldest awoke to a glorious sunrise with hues of yellows, golds, reds, and oranges rising over her kingdom. It took awhile before Ushi stirred and was about. Finally, he was packing up the horses and they were on their way to the Kingdom of the Willows.
Curious bluebirds sat high on the tree branches and watched Ushi mount Niciu while Goldest jumped up on to the rump of the stallion – her comfort zone, as she called it. With their other supply horse in tow, they began their long journey.
As Ushi and Goldest rode fast and hard that morning, the Thorn Army marched onwards with stiffness, up and down hills, falling down, in and out as they tumbled over one another. High on a hill above the exercising of the army, Savagio sat on his white stallion, Xzen, and chuckled to himself as he watched the clumsiness of the thorns. Octagon, Onion, Pentangle and Xnug sat on their own gray-dappled steeds next to Savagio. Ebrix was down below with the thorns moving them along on his dark mount. Pentangle gave Savagio a look of dislike. He did not care for the disrespectfulness of Savagio’s chuckling.
“Your insolent smartness annoys me, Savagio,” Pentangle told him with a dark look in his eyes.
Xnug did not care to hear a confrontation between Pentangle and Savagio. The Monks had taken notice that Pentangle did not like Savagio and that they both did not get along very well. Xnug was afraid Pentangle would drive Savagio away out of rashness before the training of their warriors had been completed. Xnug, like most of the Monks, wanted their Thorn Army to flourish above all other armies, and he knew they needed Savagio to help them.
Xnug nudged his mount up to Pentangle’s mount and quietly told him, “Let him be humored. We shall see if he is still so jovial in six months.”
“I am tired of hearing those same spoken words from other Brothers,” Pentangle replied dryly.
Savagio ignored the Monks and continued to look on with laughter written all over his face. Imagine me, a warrior, training a bunch of sticks and branches with protruding thorns to be warriors! Savagio thought humorously to himself.
Octagon sat quietly on his mount and was having second thoughts about an uprising whose blood would be on their own hands. He knew as well as everyone else within the Domain that the ancient Monks and Shamans were a peaceful lot. I fear greatly at what will happen at the end of those six months, he thought quietly to himself. Dread seeped into the essence of his soul concerning what might come about at that given time.
The Req
uest
The evening came fast that night upon the Willow Castle in the Kingdom of the Willows. The sun had settled in early for the night. The darkness was colored with blue lights and made for an enchanted late evening. The King and Queen of the Willows were having a late dinner due to the many activities that went on that day throughout their kingdom. They were sitting at their long table in their main dining hall with the ever-protective Shadow lying at the little Princess Augean’s feet. A few attendants stood back from the table, waiting for any commands given. Since the hour was so late, they were dining on a light dinner of chicken and carrot soup with both corn bread and vegetable bread to fill themselves up on. It was a very quiet, family-oriented scene, until a guard of the castle came rushing excitedly into the room.
The King stood up as the guard bowed to him. “You are disturbing our meal – this had better be important!” an annoyed King bellowed at the guard.
“Sir, Ushi has come back!”
The King smiled slyly, knowing some day Ushi would come back. Excitement overcame his Queen and Augean. An apprehensive Shadow slowly stood up and watched.
“I knew it! I have always said that Ushi would come back – and he did!” an exuberant King cried out to his Queen and Augean.
A proud Ushi walked into the room, with a croaking Goldest hopping behind him. The King rushed forward and embraced Ushi. Shadow trotted over to Ushi and stood up on his hind legs, wanting acknowledgment from him. After embracing the King, Ushi showered attention on Shadow.
“My, but you have grown some.” Shadow licked Ushi’s face in an affectionate welcome.
The Queen regained her composure. She and Augean stood as royal ladies should. A disappointed Augean looked around the room and saw no sign or presence of the Tooth Fairy Princess. Her heart sank, knowing how much she had meant to Ushi. She never expected to see Ushi again, unless he had brought back the princess for a visit to their kingdom. The Queen never questioned herself about Ushi coming back, knowing love weaves a tangled web of its own.
