by Ritu Ghosh
Both Ony and Belster were alerted, Dan had already gone out of the sight. Ony looked around.
“The Lurg is here! We will not have another chance” Aaron barely managed to speak between his hard breathing. He halted next to Ony.
“Remember, don’t kill him. Just catch him.” Aaron reminded them.
Within seconds Billy came to view. He jumped right in front of Ony and Belster from a tree. Right behind of him was the humongous Lurg. The Lurg stood puzzled as he saw Ony and Belster ready with their weapons. Billy jumped out of the way.
Before the Lurg could understand that he was tricked, Ony and Belster surrounded him. The Lurg was about to shout when Belster pointed an arrow to him.
“Not a single word” he said, “just walk with us”.
The Lurg made a hideous face at Belster.
“You think you can catch me while my troop is right here!” He said and his mouth curled in something like a smile which made him look even uglier.
Without a warning he gave out a loud cry calling out to others. Aaron and Billy gasped together; this was something they dreaded from the beginning.
Ony pulled out his big hammer that he brought specially for this and swung it over the Lung’s head.
The hammer hit the Lurg hard and he passed out the same moment.
“Is he dead?” Aaron came towards the Lurg to check.
“No! He is not, Just unconscious. I should have hit him the moment I saw him” said Ony.
“Quick, we have to get the Lurg on the horse before the others come for him” said Belster and adjusted the quiver at his shoulder.
They all got the Lurg on Billy’s horse with great effort. The Lurg didn’t move at all, Aaron kept checking if he was breathing or not.
After they got the Lurg on the horse, they all sat on their horses too. Billy rode with Aaron on Aaron’s horse.
“Where is Dan?” Aaron asked.
"He’s gone looking for some Arthium leaves. He will be back soon." said Ony.
“But there is no time. The Lurgs could come here any moment.” Aaron panicked.
“This is all because of your friend, if he wouldn’t have come along, we didn’t have to go looking for the medicine for him in such a bad time” said Belster angrily.
Aaron ignored Belster even though he wanted to punch him. For him finding Dan and getting out of there was more important now.
“I will go get Dan. Be there. I will be back soon” said Aaron as he pulled the reins of his horse. He and Billy rode together towards the Lurgs camp.
Aaron was still invisible. Him riding the horse looked quite odd. It was like the reins were held by nobody and Billy was just sitting behind and some ghost was riding the horse.
Billy tried to remind Aaron about his invisibility, which Aaron had completely forgotten as he was too busy looking for Dan.
After riding for sometime through the rough paths of the forest and coming across many trees and steep slopes, Aaron finally saw Dan very near to the Lurg camp where Billy was hiding before.
Aaron rushed towards him. Billy held himself firmly in place.
Dan was tying up a bag, he was on the ground and his horse was grazing nearby. It looked like he had no idea that the other Lurgs had been informed about their plan. He looked very relaxed.
As Aaron rode towards Dan, the earth moved suddenly and Aaron felt a thousand heavy feet coming towards them. His horse halted and gave out a frightened neigh.
“The Lurgs are coming” said Billy equally scared as Aaron. “We have to get out of here”.
“Not till we get Dan” said Aaron and rode on.
Dan was alerted in a second. He stood up urgently and looked for his horse.
But it was too late. Before Dan could make a move two Lurgs came in Aaron’s view.
“No!” A low gasp escaped his lips.
Dan had no choice but to draw his sword. There was still a chance he could escape if he defeats these two Lurgs. The others were far behind them.
The Lurgs were really pissed as they spotted Dan. They remembered him well from the last fight.
“You have come back human! This will be your end” said one Lurg.
"How dare you hunt my friend human?” said the other Lurg and came at Dan with his heavy blunt sword.
Their swords clashed. Dan’s moves were quick as he had to fight both the Lurgs. He was moving from one Lurg to another to stop their swords from hitting him.
Aaron turned his horse and stopped at a distance. The Lurgs were well armored. The rest of the Lurgs sensed danger ahead and were now blowing their horns now.
“I should have asked Ony and Belster to leave” regretted Aaron but there was no time.
“Billy! Get on Dan’s horse! Pick him up and run. I will try and stop the Lurgs” said Aaron pulling his sword out.
“No! Master Aaron, it’s very dangerous. There are many of them. You will never be able to stop them. Let me fight them too” said Billy.
“No Billy! We can’t fight right now. We have to reach the Blue Mountains or all our efforts will go to waste. Go now and once you get Dan, run straight to Ony and start for Blue Mountains at once” said Aaron commanding.
He didn’t wait for Billy’s approval. Billy reluctantly got down from the horse and ran to Dan’s horse.
Dan saw Billy getting onto his horse but Dan was too busy to care then.
With a slash, the Lurg’s sword hit Dan's waist Armor and cut the small pouch that Dan collected the Arthium leaves in. It fell on the ground. Dan leapt to pick it up, but in the mean time the other Lurg aimed for his neck.
As Aaron pulled his sword out, it broke the contact from his body and became visible immediately. Now it was like a ghost riding the horse with a sword. With his horse, he jumped right in the middle of the Lurgs and Dan.
They were all startled.
The Lurgs couldn’t see anybody on the horse, only a sword dangling in mid air. One Lurg gave out a grunt and came closer to take a look.
“Dan, go. Now!” said Aaron, Dan moved to leave but then he remembered about the pouch that was still fallen on the ground.
“The pouch. I need it!” he said and leapt towards it.
One Lurg lifted his sword to finish Dan off as he kneeled down.
“Dan! What are you doing?” Aaron screamed.
The next moment Aaron’s sword pierced the Lurg’s throat. And as the Sword of Heavens’ pure steel touched the Lurg, it burned him and he started to shiver. The Lurg finally fell back shivering. The other Lurg backed off not knowing what was going on.
Dan got up and gave Aaron a quick bow.
Billy came riding from behind and extended his hand to Dan. Dan jumped and landed on the horse behind Billy. Billy immediately turned the horse and raced away towards Ony.
The other Lurgs seemed to be frightened of Aaron and his horse. One of the Lurg made a stopping gesture to the other Lurgs and looked at the dead Lurg again. The dead Lurgs’ entire face was burnt.
“Magic Sword! Magic Ghost! Magic Horse!” he whispered and Aaron suddenly realized that the Lurg have mistaken him for a ghost.
This was his chance to escape. He raised his sword high and pulled the rein. His horse stood up on its hind legs and neighed loudly. The Lurgs seemed to be very frightened.
“Ghost!!” one Lurg shouted and ran back towards the other Lurgs who have stopped blowing their horns and were looking at Aaron’s raised sword.
Aaron turned sharply and galloped in the direction of Ony and the others. The Lurgs did not follow him for sometime but soon he heard the horns again.
When Aaron reached the spot where Ony and Belster were waiting with the pass out Lurg, they have already left.
Aaron had a big smile on his face.
‘I have done it!’ he said to himself. He kept the sword back in his belt and it become invisible again.
The sound of the horns and the thumping of the Lurgs’ feet were coming closer to Aaron.
Aaron patted his horse who had been ext
remely understanding and cooperative.
“You are the best horse I ever had buddy. I will call you Storm from now on.” said Aaron patting it.
Though Aaron was invisible, the horse could sense him very well. He was not frightened at all like the other horses. He shook his head happily as he liked his name.
“Come on Storm! What are we waiting for?” said Aaron and Storm was on his way to the Blue Mountains in no time.
The sound of the Lurgs died out in sometimes and Aaron spotted the rest of the company riding fast. He joined them cheerfully.
The potion began to wear off and slowly he was becoming visible limb by limb.
“Look, it’s Master Aaron!” said Billy who was the first one to spot Aaron. The others turned to see Aaron, only his torso was visible. He waved at them happily and rode at their side.
Dan gave him a happy nod. “You did well back there boy” he said.
Aaron grinned “The plan worked!”
“It sure did!” said Ony who was leading Billy’s horse to which the unconscious Lurg was tied. Belster had to ride next to it even though he didn’t seem to be happy about it. He was grumpy. They rode to the Blue Mountains and once again came inside the gates of the wizard’s house.
Jane and Bo were already standing at the door, they greeted them eagerly.
Jane came running towards Aaron. Aaron stopped and got down from the horse. He was so happy that he hugged Jane tightly.
“Oh Jane! You have saved my life today” he said.
“What? But I was not even there” said Jane surprised.
“Your invisibly potion was a great idea. I wouldn’t be here if it was not for it” said Aaron.
Jane let out a light laughter.
“I am so happy, you all made it back safely” said Jane, then her eyes fell on the enormous Lurg who was tied to a horse.
“Your plan worked!” she said and looked happily at Aaron.
Aaron grinned and advanced towards the Lurg. Ony untied the unconscious Lurg. Dan and Billy helped him carrying the Lurg down. Aaron and Jane joined them. Even Bo tried to help but Belster didn’t move from his place. He stood next to his horse and just stared at them.
“He is so heavy and stinky!” said Aaron as he supported the Lurg’s hand on his shoulder and walked inside the house.
“It’s a Lurg Aaron, what did you expect?” said Jane who was sweating as she lifted the other hand.
Ony was carrying the Lurg on his shoulder; Dan and Billy lifted the Lurg by his legs. They somehow brought the Lurg inside the great halls and lowered it on the floor. Belster came behind them and closed the door.
Everybody stretched their backs and looked at each other. They all looked relieved.
Ony let out a laugh. “Can’t believe your plan worked, kid ! But we came so close to being caught” he said.
“Being caught!!” said Jane as her eyes widened.
“Yes, this one is brave. But you should be more careful Aaron.” Dan said proudly and patted Aaron’s back.
“I think he was awesome!” said Billy with dreamy eyes. “The way he attacked the Lurgs...”
“You attacked the Lurgs? I asked you to stay away from them” Jane’s eyes were even wider.
“Aa...a..Not like that” stammered Aaron. “I will tell you all about it later.” Aaron scratched his head not able to find words to explain to Jane.
“How’s Flynn doing?” Dan asked and Jane’s attention was diverted. Aaron took a breath of relief.
“Oh! He is fine. He woke up and also had food” said Jane. She was shaking with joy. Bo joined her and shook his head like a bobble toy.
“Come, we will take a look at him then!” said Dan.
“But we can’t leave this thing alone here!” said Ony.
“Belster could watch him. Anyways, he has no interest in the boy” said Dan in a taunting voice.
Belster frowned. But he didn’t have any other choice.
They all walked to Flynn’s room and Belster remained near the unconscious Lurg. He huffed and made a disgusted face looking down at the Lung who was lying flat on the floor.
Aaron’s heart was leaping with great joy as Flynn had come back to consciousness. He couldn't wait to see him. There were so many things he wanted to tell him, things like the Lurg he helped capture, who was in the halls.
As they all walked, Aaron’s eyes fell on the small pouch which Dan was carrying. He remembered how Dan risked his life to retrieve it.
“What is in that pouch?” asked Aaron stopping at the corridor. Ony and Jane turned back.
Dan looked down at the pouch dangling at his belt and pulled it out. He handed it out to Jane.
“These are the Arthium leaves that you have asked for Flynn’s recovery” he said.
Jane accepted it with great enthusiasm.
'You brought it! Now Flynn can throw knives again” she said to herself and thanked Dan.
“You almost got killed getting those leaves!” said Aaron astonished.
Everybody was stunned to hear that.
“What?” Ony gasped.
“Yes! That’s true, I saw it. He was not coming back without the pouch” said Billy.
Dan didn’t say anything. He was a little intimidated with so much sudden attention.
Aaron hugged him suddenly and Dan was startled.
“Thank you! I am so grateful, you did this for Flynn. I will never forget this” he said as tears formed in his eyes.
He hugged Aaron back but didn’t say anything.
Ony started to sob too and Bo gave him a small handkerchief to wipe his tears.
They walked to Flynn’s room silently after that.
‘Dan is very different from what he looks to be’ Aaron thought to himself as Dan turned to his old stern self again.
They reached Flynn’s room and Jane knocked on the door gently before opening it.
Flynn was awake. He was sitting up on his bed with Arkion on his lap.
He saw all of them coming in and said, “I knew it was you. I heard voices” said Flynn.
Aaron ran to Flynn and gave him a big hug.
“Ouch!” Flynn flinched as Aaron put his hand on Flynn’s shoulders.
“Are you okay Flynn?” Aaron asked worried.
“Yes! Just my arm doesn’t work like it should” he managed a smile through the pain.
The others had surrounded Flynn too.
“He will be fine Aaron” said Jane and turned to Flynn showing him the Arthium leaves.
“Look Flynn! Dan got the Arthium leaves for you ! You will be fine in no time and back to throwing knives, even better than before” she smiled and Flynn nodded.
Aaron was surprised at the new bonding between Jane and Flynn, but he was happy about it.
While the others asked many questions to Flynn about his health and explained their recent quest to him, Jane and Bo were busy making the medicine out of the Arthium leaves. It was ready soon. Jane brought the cup to Flynn.
Arkion had become the centre of attention for the men. Aaron was explaining a great deal about his new pet.
“Drink this up. It might be bitter but it will heal you completely” said Jane and handed Flynn the cup of medicine.
Aaron helped Flynn with drinking it up. Flynn made many funny faces while drinking the medicine but the men cheered for him.
“Drink up ! Drink up ! Yes its good for you ! You can do it !” they all said to Flynn.
Finally, Flynn was able to finish the medicine but he held onto his throat. Jane quickly gave him some water to drink that brought him some relief.
“You did it boy!” said Ony and slapped his shoulder.
To Flynn’s surprise the pain on his left arm was gone instantly.
“I didn’t feel the pain anymore” said Flynn and looked at Jane, Jane smiled. Aaron looked at Jane too and nodded.
Flynn was trying to lift his left hand but it was still not fully moving.
“Don’t worry. After a few more dosages you will be like befor
e again” said Jane.
Flynn’s eyes widened. “More of that medicine!”
His mouth still tasted like the bitter medicine. He couldn't think of having more of it. But he smiled weakly as he knew it was for his own good.
Aaron put Arkion in his basket. Then they suddenly heard a scream.
