Sentari: ICE

by Trevor Booth

  A strange sound began to creep into his ears. At first he thought it was nothing. It was too far away to be a concern, so he continued on his walk. But the sound grew louder. Intrigue got the better of him and he decided to investigate. He walked over a small rise and, in the grass below, was a small hut. He had never come across this hut before, which puzzled him. The sound seemed to emanate from there.

  The sound grew louder as he walked closer. It was almost like a panting sound. He was reaching for the door handle, when he heard a screech of pleasure. He suddenly realised that there were people in there, so he did not open the door. As he walked away, he could not help but take a peek through the window – something that he would regret for the rest of his days. Lying naked in the bed were Serena and Aiden.

  Shocked, Noah watched on as the two made love. He was so enraged that he could not move his feet. Serena’s passion for Aiden was so much more vigorous than it ever was for Noah. She kissed and touched him with such fervour.

  Noah stepped away from the window. He was in two minds as to what to do. Anger eventually got the better of him. He picked up a rock and smashed the window. Serena and Aiden spun around to see Noah standing in the window. “Noah!” yelped Serena.

  “I loved you,” said Noah, with a tremble in his voice.

  “Noah, please,” said Serena as she leapt off the bed. She opened the door. Noah stormed away from the house. “Please, Noah,” said Serena, as she ran after him. Noah turned around to face her with an anger in his eyes that she had never seen. Scared, she stepped back.

  “Don’t you ever come to my home again,” said Noah. He turned and walked away, leaving Serena standing naked in the cold.

  Noah returned to his home. Everything in the house reminded him of her. In a fit of rage, he smashed everything. He grabbed a knife and ripped apart the bed where they had slept.

  This was no longer his home. He picked up the oil lanterns that hung near the front door. He threw them onto the lounge room floor, smashing them to pieces. The oil flew everywhere and the room quickly caught on fire.

  Noah closed the front door and locked it tight. The fire raged behind him as he walked away and left the farm for good. He walked along the shoreline, tears pouring from his eyes. He had no idea what he was going to do. He could not even think about that now. All he could feel was pain. He walked for hours, to the point of exhaustion.

  Eventually, he lay down in the grass, but his sleep was fractured. His dreams brought him no solace. All he could see was Serena, naked with Aiden. In the morning, he realised that he had unwittingly walked onto Aiden’s farm. Just off the shore was Aiden’s pride and joy, his boat. It was a fine boat, only big enough for two, but the two would travel in style. Noah decided that it was only fair that he take something of Aiden’s. He did not know where he was going to go, but he knew that Angel Island was no longer his home.

  Noah pulled the anchor up from the side of the boat and set sail. He looked back over his shoulder at his former home. He felt no sadness about leaving. As the island grew smaller behind him, all he could feel was anger. The rage built up inside him, consuming his every thought.

  One small problem surfaced for Noah, as Angel Island disappeared from view. He had never really sailed a boat before and he had absolutely no idea where he was going. He had always heard the other farmers talk about going to the mainland, and the joys that it brought. ‘The north,’ they would refer to it as, so Noah decided that he should head north. He spun the sail around and faced the boat in the right direction. The wind was quite strong and the boat was pulled away in an almighty hurry.

  Little did Noah know, but the distance from Angel Island to the mainland was quite a considerable one – three week’s sail in fact, and he was grossly underprepared. He had not brought food or water. He had to ration what was already on the boat if he was to last out the journey.

  For the next week, the boat virtually sailed itself across the seas. The days were calm; the wind was strong enough to motor the vessel forward, but not so strong as to cause him any concern.

  Noah stood on the deck of the boat, looking out at the dark clouds building in the distance. They were a long way behind him, but they were closing in rapidly. The little boat was not designed to withstand storms; it was designed for leisurely cruises around the waters of Angel Island.

  Noah quickly hurried around the boat, tying down everything he could. He pulled the mast down, wrapped it up and tied it to the deck. He dropped the anchor and headed down to the cabin.

  Beneath the deck there was a large, comfortable bed and a small desk, but very little else. It was an area that was purely meant for sleeping. Noah sat down on the bed and waited nervously. The hours passed and nothing changed. The boat bobbed up and down on the spot. Eventually, curiosity got the better of him and he opened the hatch and took a peek outside. The dark clouds had consumed the sky. It was so dark that it was almost like night time. The winds were howling strongly and were threatening to get stronger. Noah quickly closed the hatch and ran back down below.

  The howling winds above grew into a full-blown gale. The gentle bobbing of the boat turned into a rollercoaster ride. Every loose object in the boat flew around, smashing into the walls. Noah curled up in the corner of the bed, protecting his head from the flying projectiles.

  Thunder boomed in the distance. Again and again, the thunder shook the boat with its enormous power. Suddenly, the roof of the cabin ripped open. The deck was literally pulled from the boat and flung into the sky. Noah looked up. Heavy rain was pouring down. The wind whipped it in all directions. More and more pieces of the boat were flung into the sky.

  The winds swirled and swirled into a tornado and pulled at Noah. He was gradually pulled into the air. He clung onto the boat for dear life, but the power of the tornado was too strong and it ripped him away. He was lifted high up into the sky. He looked down at his little boat below, getting smashed to pieces. The wind suddenly changed direction and he was sent crashing back towards the water, hitting it with an almighty wallop. He was momentarily stunned as he drifted below the turbulent waves above.

  As he slowly sank, paralysed, all he could think about was Serena. For all his rage, for all his pain, he still loved her.

  Mercifully, the feeling in his arms and legs started to come back, and he swam as quickly as he could to the surface. He had been tossed so far from his boat that he could barely see it. He treaded water, terrified.

  He struggled to hold his head above water for many hours. The clouds slowly dispersed above him and the blue sky peeked its way in. He contemplated the life he had led and wondered what would happen to him when he died. He never really followed any religion, which, when faced with death, felt like a mistake to him. He was all but resigned to the fact that the ocean was going to take his life.

  Four hours later, all signs of the storm had long since passed, and Noah barely clung to life. His arms and legs were aching with pain. He moved them backwards and forwards very slowly, only just staying afloat.

  The last ounce of strength left his body he began to sink again. He had no more energy to fight back. He was completely submerged and slowly fell towards the bed of the ocean. The sea was so deep that he could not even see the bottom. He sank and sank for what felt like an eternity. His mind began to waver as the lack of oxygen set in. He closed his eyes and let go.

  With a thud, he landed on something. He opened his eyes and turned around. He was lying on an enormous glass roof and, inside, asleep on the floor of a huge room was Plantus, a mighty dragon that lived long before Drake and the seven. Plantus had the scars of a thousand battles across his scales, but his eyes still burned with the passion of a young dragon.

  Plantus peered up at Noah, getting to his feet to stare at him. Noah was terrified but he had no energy to swim away.

  Plantus opened his huge mouth and a fine mist of ice came rushing out. The roof of the room and the water around Noah began to freeze. He tried to move, but the ice restricted him.
He was trapped in a small frozen ball. Plantus then changed his ice breath to fire and melted the bottom of the ice surrounding Noah. The fire that Plantus breathed was gentle and controlled. Slowly, the ice melted away. When it was almost gone, Noah fell to the floor of the room with a thud.

  Plantus looked down at the tiny little man and smiled. Noah was still terrified; to him, the smile looked menacing. “Please, do not be afraid. You are safe here,” said Plantus.

  “Where am I?” asked Noah nervously.

  “This, young man, is my home – one that I had kept secret for a long time – until now,” replied Plantus.

  Noah wearily got to his feet and looked around the room. It was large in size but it had no doors. The room was covered in rugs, pots, pans, treasure chests and all kinds of furniture. It was a massive room, but with so much stuff, it felt quite claustrophobic. “Thank you for saving my life,” said Noah graciously.

  “Think nothing of it,” said Plantus.

  “You live down here?” asked Noah, trying not to be too rude.

  “Yes, I find the location affords me a certain level of privacy,” said Plantus.

  “I can imagine,” said Noah.

  “May I ask how you ended up all the way down here?” enquired Plantus.

  Noah sat down on a small couch and looked up at the mighty dragon. For some reason, he felt he could trust the creature. “I was running away,” said Noah.

  “Did you have somewhere in mind?” asked Plantus.

  “No. I just needed to get away from where I came from,” said Noah.

  “Well, you are most welcome to stay as long as you like, but most of the guests I’ve had – which is very few – have found the location a little claustrophobic after a while. I, on the other hand, need somewhere remote for my hibernation,” said Plantus.

  “Hibernation?” asked Noah.

  “Yes. Once every hundred years, I sleep for twelve months – keeps me looking young,” said Plantus with a smile.

  “I’m afraid you have caught me just as I was about to sleep. I won’t be much company for the next year,” said Plantus.

  “If it’s ok with you, I think I will enjoy the quiet,” said Noah.

  “As you wish. You will find plenty of food in this room – somewhere,” said Plantus.

  Plantus walked over to the corner of the room and curled up into a ball. He breathed out a mist of ice. Slowly, the ice grew around him until he was covered in a thin layer. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

  Noah walked up to Plantus. He reached out and gently touched the ice that surrounded him. It was the coldest thing he had ever touched. He could barely keep his hand on it for a second, before the cold became too much to bear. He leaned in and looked at Plantus to see if he was still awake. The dragon’s eyes were nearly as big at Noah’s head. He stared at Plantus’s eye, but it did not move. He was definitely asleep.

  Noah looked around at the room and pondered what he was to do for the next twelve months. He looked at the mess and began to clean it up. He could not think of a better thing to do to pass the time.

  He had no idea how much stuff there actually was in the room. It took him two weeks of effort to organise only a third of the room. Noah was quite adept at organising things. He set everything out in categories and in alphabetical order. The objects that he did not recognise got moved to one side of the room. He decided to call that part of the room the “What the heck is that?” corner.

  Noah wondered where Plantus got most of his stuff from, but he soon realised that a lot of it would have been from sunken ships. There were enough old coins to buy Angel Island four times over.

  Another six weeks passed, with Noah making little progress. It was as if the more he organised, the more he found. He thought he was probably halfway through, but he had been thinking that for the last two weeks. He was fast losing the enthusiasm to clean, but he was determined to finish and repay the debt he owed Plantus.

  Noah lifted a large cabinet from off the floor. The cabinet was very old. Its wood was almost rotten through, the doors were barely hanging on, and the mirror that sat atop it was so badly smashed and rusted that you he could barely make out a reflection.

  Noah opened the doors and brushed away the cobwebs. He wondered to himself why Plantus would keep such an item. At first glance, it appeared to be empty, but as he brushed away the dust, he noticed a small book wedged in the back. He reached in and lifted it out. The book was small, but it was very heavy. The cover was made out of solid gold. He brushed the dust off. Protruding from the surface of the cover were four metal dragons. The dragons were wrapped around the book in such a way that all of their hands were joined together along the side of the book, keeping it shut.

  There was a small key hole in the middle of the cover and, around that, were four smaller holes, each with a letter above them. In clockwise order they read, N, E, S and W. Noah quickly realised that they stood for points on the compass, but wondered what kind of key would open such a lock.

  He did his best to pry open the book, but it was firmly shut. He had come across many keys during his cleaning, but none that would fit the shape of the hole.

  He took a small cloth out from his pocket and rubbed the book clean. It shimmered in the light. The craftsmanship of the dragons was incredible. He knew there was something special about this book, so he placed it safely atop the cabinet and moved the cabinet to its own section of the room.

  He continued to clean. The weeks and months passed. Slowly, the room took shape. Noah had found the cleaning to be very relaxing. It took his mind off Serena, but, for some reason, the book was always at the back of his mind. He couldn’t help but wonder what it was and why it was so well locked. He made a point of keeping every key he found and putting them all together.

  After nearly twelve months, the room was organised. He looked at what he had achieved and was very happy with himself. Then his eyes moved to the book sitting on the cabinet. He was almost drawn to it. He took the book over to the giant pile of keys he had made and began to try each key in the hole.

  One by one, he inserted each key and one after another, they failed. There were literally thousands of keys in the pile. It would take him another twelve months to try all of them.

  Suddenly, the ice surrounding Plantus shattered and exploded around the room. Plantus came bursting out, opened his mouth and roared out so loudly that the walls of the room shook. Noah covered his ears and winced in pain. Plantus shook off the last of the ice and looked down at Noah. “Hello, my boy. It gladdens me to see you’re still here,” said Plantus. He looked around the room and was very impressed with Noah’s work. “I have not seen this place so clean since the day it was made. I owe you a debt of gratitude.”

  “You owe me nothing,” said Noah.

  “I see you have found the Dragon’s Tale,” said Plantus.

  “I’m very sorry. I should not have tried to look,” said Noah.

  “Nonsense. You would not be human, if you weren’t curious,” said Plantus.

  Noah placed the book on the floor. Plantus swung his mighty tail around and inserted the end of it into the key hole. With just a quick twist, the hands of the metal dragons released and the book sprung open. Noah lifted the book from the ground nervously. He opened it and, to his surprise, saw there were only three pages, all of which were empty. “I don’t understand,” said Noah.

  “The book is an ancient dragon book for binding. You write what you desire on the first page. The book will write the price on the second page and, if you agree, you sign the third page,” replied Plantus. “But, be warned. The magic that this book contains is very powerful. It will hold you to your word.”

  Noah sat down on a nearby chair and stared at the book, contemplating what to do. Plantus looked around at his newly organised home. “I must say, I really am very impressed with your work. I could use someone like you,” said Plantus. Noah took little notice as he contemplated his wish.

  “Do you have a pen?” asked Noa
h. “Never mind,” he continued, knowing full well where everything was in the place. Noah opened the draw of a dresser and took an old pen out. The pen was carved from the tusks of an elephant, the tip made from the finest steel Sentari had to offer. Noah dipped the pen in a small pot of ink. “Remember, be very specific,” said Plantus, as Noah put the ink to paper.

  Noah wrote his wish, then looked up at Plantus. “Now what?” asked Noah.

  “Close the book and put it down on the table,” said Plantus.

  Noah did as he was instructed and the hands of the metal dragons locked in place once again. “Now, we wait. Once the book opens itself you will have your price. Now, if you excuse me, I have some things that need taking care of,” continued Plantus.

  Plantus raised his huge head and looked up at the roof. He opened his mouth. Flame roared out and shattered a hole in the roof. The flame burst through the water above, creating a tunnel to the surface. Plantus flew up the tunnel at tremendous speed. Once he reached the surface, he turned around and, in one swift breath of ice, he froze the roof of the building again. As he flew away, the water from the ocean crashed back down onto the roof with an almighty bang.

  Noah looked back at the book. It remained unmoved. He sat down on the floor and stared intently at it. Hours passed and the book did not move. He did not budge. His mind was fully occupied with the thought of making his desires a reality. He wondered what it would be like. He tried to imagine the feeling of satisfaction when the task was completed and, just when his mind began to wander with infinite possibilities, the book sprung open. Noah leapt to his feet and ran over to it. He gently opened the book. On the first page was what he had written. It read simply:

  “Destroy all the people of Angel Island.”

  Noah turned to the next page nervously. In the middle of the page, in beautifully crafted handwriting was:

  “Your price is to serve the magic of Plantus until the day you die.”

  Noah looked at the proposal. He could not believe how small a price he had to pay to have the revenge he sought so dearly. He would gladly live his life in servitude. Noah turned the page over. In the middle of the page was a single dotted line with his name below it. He took the pen and dipped it in ink. He took a deep breath, then carefully signed his name on the dotted line.