The Three Thorns

by Michael Gibney

  They were the royal sea guards of the new world; vicious amphibian fighters that served the False One; each cursed with their own unique form of mutation that resembled various sea life.

  Cassius took out his sword and called down to his companions to climb to the top as fast as they could.

  A dented patch in the hill caught Benjamin’s next step off guard, causing him to lose his balance on the dangerous hilltop and roll back to the bottom. The soldiers were only a few yards away when they began to close in on him.

  Cassius leapt with his golden blade high in hand ready to greet his enemies below. He wasn’t afraid to take on the entire regiment in combat; rather, he was more worried about reaching Benjamin safely in time without making a clumsy mistake in his attempt.

  Nearer the top, Trump had saved his own slithery skin by hiding behind one of the large rocks, shying away from the oncoming tribe that was prepared to seize the hillside. Grabbing at clumps of grass, Benjamin managed to stop rolling a few feet from the bottom. Cassius leapt over Benjamin’s head, landing directly in front of the swarming sea guards.

  “Lemis!” Cassius growled, gawking at the hideous chief sea guard. A simple signal from Lemis halted his troops.

  “You be a warlock, young one?” Lemis asked Benjamin, who cowered behind Cassius, terrified by Lemis’s razor-sharp under-bite.

  “Do not speak with him,” Cassius warned.

  “Your brains are in your boots, young bounty hunter. Civilian trespassing on the King’s land carries the death penalty,” Lemis hissed.

  “Just try it,” Cassius snapped back, swiftly raising his sword to swipe and causing the entire group of sea guards to flinch.

  “I’ve heard a rumor from the witches that a powerful warlock is in the making. You civilians should beware these Children of Abasin you have been sent to protect,” Lemis rambled. “One of these thorns will bring a prickly end to you, the witches say. They are destined for darker things.”

  “A rumor from a witch is hardly trustworthy, fool!” Cassius mocked.

  “Ah…now I remember you. You be young Cassius Shark. I thought I recognized you. The pirate’s son turned rebel bounty hunter. How you’ve grown…a little.” Lemis jeered alongside his troops, poking fun at the bounty hunter’s height. Cassius sighed and gripped his sword handle tightly.

  “I’m big enough to see you fall this day, accursed,” Cassius announced for all to hear.

  “Such bold words. There are too many of us to fight this time,” Lemis promised, regarding the False One’s world forces.

  “There’s only one child, and he’s too small,” one villain shouted out.

  “Is he really one of the three? A human?” another sea guard spluttered.

  “We can take him,” a squid-faced trooper muttered from the group.

  “He’s new to this world. I can smell his human stench. It is him; he’s a thorn, the cursed spawn the Master spoke of,” one whispered amongst several of his fellow troops.

  “Give me the child, bounty hunter, by order of the King of Abasin,” growled Lemis, pointing his rusted black sword at Benjamin.

  Cassius instantly struck Lemis’s chest with a mighty boot, kicking him to the ground in front of his soldiers.

  “Saul is not my king!” Cassius roared.

  As Cassius battled the large group of soldiers by himself, Benjamin clambered his way to the safety of the rocks above, pursued by several troops at Lemis’ command. Cassius fought his way through a large number of sea guards, hacking and slaying each villain through one fatal move of his golden blade, until Lemis struck hard and fast behind him, stabbing the bounty hunter deep in his side. Cassius clutched his wound in pain and warily retreated to the safety of the rocks.

  Benjamin finally made it to the top of the hill, ahead of his pursuers, and scaled the rocks to reach the peak. “Trump, where are you?” he called out. But Trump didn’t respond.

  “You’re going to the King, my little prisoner,” one sea guard cackled when it arrived at the top of the hill.

  Benjamin screamed in shock when another sea guard snuck in front of him. In a flash, the pintsize monster fell off its rock and plummeted down the hill, screeching.

  Cassius began shooting his arrows wildly now, using the edge of the hilltop as his perfect vantage point to shoot more charging guards below. Within seconds the numbers grew. Troops of twenty increased to thirty until over fifty soldiers swarmed the steep hill. They had answered the screeching calls of their chief sea guard, General Lemis. Cassius was slowly but surely running out of ammunition while the remaining sea guard in pursuit of Benjamin climbed onto the top rock and moved in for the capture.

  A fireball hurtled through the swarm of arrows toward the hilltop. Cassius made a dash for cover behind a gigantic rock before the burning boulder slammed against it.

  Benjamin held on for dear life. The vibrations shook through the rocks and almost thrust him and his pursuer to the ground. Another fireball hit the same huge stone that protected Cassius.

  During the launch of a third fireball, a sleeping beast was abruptly awoken from its long slumber.

  The movement of the rock shook the foundations of the hillside. Benjamin sensed the rapid elevation. The second movement was unceasing, taking him higher from the hilltop.

  The gigantic creature had awoken, tearing off half of the hilltop while it rose, growing taller to an almost ridiculous twenty feet in height. It looked like a giant tortoise when it fully stood straight up. A massive shell of rock covered two thirds of its body, including its entire back and most of its head. Its front was swathed in dark soil and earth. Clumps of rock plummeted off its chest and fell toward the army, squashing several troops below. The gargantuan rock-shelled creature flicked Benjamin’s assailant off its shoulder with a single finger.

  Lemis gasped in horror and ordered his troops to engage in warfare with the mighty creature. “Attack!” Lemis commanded, pointing a solid finger at the stone giant. Immediately the entire army of sea guards charged at the rock-shelled giant. The giant creature swiftly turned its rocky back on the oncoming fireballs, arrows and swords, all with Benjamin clinging to the top of its stone head.

  “Don’t look down, don’t look down,” Benjamin told himself.

  Weapons had no effect, ricocheting off the creature’s stone shell. Most of the arrows fell back down, puncturing several sea guards, while a few swords recoiled, piercing those that threw them. In one ingenious and skillful move, the rock-shelled giant had managed to wipe out more than twenty soldiers by their own artillery.

  Cassius backed out from under the giant’s legs. As much as the young bounty hunter was strong and courageous, he could never have matched this vigorous display of power. Cassius feared for Benjamin (now trapped on top of the beast’s head), when the rock-shelled giant unleashed its attack, charging toward Lemis and his army.

  21

  Molo the Savior

  Catching a fireball with its bare hands, the rock-shelled giant bowled it back, demolishing all in its path. Scooping up a handful of sea guards from the ground, it swiftly closed its massive fingers, crushing their bodies tightly together until they fell lifelessly from its palm.

  “Stand down!” Lemis shrieked, unaware that his surviving troops had deserted the battlefield. The giant’s large eyes fixed upon Lemis once the chief’s flying servant, a black omnicorn, swiftly swooped down to rescue its master.

  It was a horrible sight, unlike Poppy or a normal colt. This black brute was greasy and tatty with two black horns pointing from its forehead. Its black leathery wings revealed arrow holes and a bizarre pattern of scars collected from previous battles. The omnicorn kept flapping its grotesque wings rapidly in mid air as it shot past the giant’s eyes. Its teeth were not like that of any normal horse for they were small and razor sharp.

  Lemis pointed his slimy finger straight at Benjamin the moment he saw the boy on top of the giant’s head. Benjamin knew the wicked grinning fi
end now singled him out.

  The twenty-foot giant swiped at the flapping omnicorn above its head, grazing the creature’s hooves with its stone fingertips. Lemis screeched in fright and kicked the sides of the omnicorn, sending his hellish pet into the heavy fog that swept across the blood soaked fields.

  Cassius clutched the wound on his side and slung his water carrier and weaponry over his back. He stealthily crept over to a trembling Trump, who had scarpered behind a large piece of debris, hoping the rock would conceal him from the giant’s huge, watchful eyes. Fear had rapidly turned Trump’s skin color to a luminous blue, which glowed brighter by the minute.

  “Relax,” Cassius whispered, while he slumped beside the toad-man, keeping his back to the rock.

  “What is that…thing?” Trump whispered after an anxious gurgle.

  “Isn’t it marvellous? I haven’t come across anything this ancient before. I don’t think they had either,” replied Cassius pointing his sword at the dead army around them.

  “It’s going to kill us!” Trump whimpered, crouching low.

  “No. It’s just a bit grumpy, that’s all. Something tells me it was sleeping here for a long time before we came,” Cassius whispered calmly.

  “Of course, why am I worried? I too wipe out an entire field of Saul’s troops every time I wake up on the wrong side of the swamp!” Trump scoffed, rolling his eyes at the injured bounty hunter, his body turning light orange again.

  Cassius dug into his goat-skin satchel and lifted out two potion jars, one containing a miniscule hurricane and the other a dancing fairy that represented good health. He opened up the second jar, letting the potion flutter in the air in the form of a fairy before it settled itself on his wound. Cassius hissed in pain as the fairy shape melted into its original form of liquid medicine and filled his wound until its red glow burnt out. Brushing the remaining ash off his healed wound, the brave bounty hunter slowly stood up to face the rock-shelled giant.

  Trump’s body turned luminous blue again, glowing his fear for all to see, while trying to remain hidden. “Stupid bounty hunter, you’re going to be the death of us.”

  “Someday…maybe,” Cassius replied quietly, smiling down at Trump.

  The evening had dropped in temperature, and the thick fog masked the open fields. Benjamin kept still, clutching onto the head of the unwitting giant. Cassius called out his name and approached the rock-shelled giant. Taking one look at the armed bounty hunter, the giant pushed out its chest and charged toward him. Cassius held up his hands to surrender whilst carefully stepping over the patches of dead bodies, but it was to no avail; the rock-shelled creature couldn’t tell the difference between friend and foe.

  “Hold it! Wait! Halt!” Cassius pleaded after dodging a frighteningly lethal blow from the giant’s monstrous rock-covered fist. In one solid strike, the enormous creature smashed a massive chunk of earth out of the field that disintegrated into smaller bits of dried dirt next to Trump. The toad-man hopped out from his hiding spot and swiftly opted for a pile of dead sea-guards to shield him from the flying lumps.

  “Run!” Benjamin called down to the bounty hunter. Cassius lunged through the giant’s open legs facing in the direction of the cliff side. The rock-shelled giant chased after him all the way back to the same spot where Benjamin had crossed through his gateway. By a quick tug of its arms, the rock-shelled giant uprooted each fruit tree near the cliff’s edge. Cassius had nowhere to hide.

  Skidding to the edge on his side, the bounty hunter covered his face as the rock-shelled giant slammed two enormous fists deep into the earth at either side of him. Cassius held his hands up in surrender and plucked up enough courage to speak to it, cautiously taking his time and choosing his words and tone wisely.

  “I mean no harm. I’m a friend. Ally!”

  The giant flinched back in alarm when Cassius sat up straight. Its striking brown eyes stared curiously at him until Cassius felt it was safe enough to call Benjamin’s name one more time.

  The small boy stood up as steadily as the giant’s wavering allowed and called out to his protector below, cupping his hands as he shouted.

  “I’m up here,” he cried out, faintly.

  The giant opened its mouth in surprise and spun around to see where the little voice had come from, flinging Benjamin to the front of its head by its rapid movement. Benjamin’s birth blanket slid off the giant’s head and fell past its huge eye before Cassius caught it below. Once the rock-shelled giant realized the boy was resting on top of its head, it began to swipe. Benjamin held on for his life as the creature ran back and forth, slamming its hands on its head in order to shake the boy off.

  Benjamin flew between its fingers and yelled in panic as he fell. His chest hit a hard earthy surface. Digging his fingers as deep as he could into the damp soil, the startled boy heaved forth, climbing up the nose of the giant, only to reach a set of mammoth eyes that glared back at him. His initial terror was soon replaced by sleepiness from the hypnotic effect of the giant’s gaze. Benjamin felt a strong sense of powerlessness. He struggled to keep awake as he felt his wilted body slide off the giant’s muddy nose. The giant creature smoothly scooped Benjamin into its right palm before the boy hit the ground.

  Cassius stopped dead in his tracks, watching in horror as Benjamin’s legs dangled lifelessly between the giant’s fingers. If it had so wished, it could’ve crumpled the boy. And this knowledge made Cassius’s face drain white.

  “No!” Cassius bellowed and ran toward the rock-shelled giant. He immediately stopped in his tracks when it flattened out its massive hand to reveal the unconscious boy unharmed.

  Cassius paced around its hand slowly until it motioned for Cassius to take the child from its hand.

  At first, his instincts told him that it was an obvious trap. But the more he studied the creature’s eyes, the more he felt at ease by their calming effect. As he approached the giant’s hand, it knelt down to greet him. Cassius quickly nudged Benjamin from his sleep and helped him down.

  “You dropped something,” Cassius laughed lightly, handing Benjamin his maroon blanket, revealing the distinct two-headed snake and crown emblem.

  “Get out here, Trump.”

  The slithering amphibian took his time hopping over the pit holes across the demolished fruit patch, his skin still beaming blue – the color of his fear.

  “He seems friendly enough, don’t you think?” Cassius muttered to Trump, giving the toad-man an encouraging wink.

  “Oh yes. I bet his stomach is dying to meet me,” Trump replied sardonically.

  “Somehow, I don’t think he’s French,” Benjamin added openly, forgetting for a moment the new world he was now a part of. The two protectors frowned at Benjamin, which made him feel awkward.

  “French! The French eat frogs in my world. Get it? Never mind,” Benjamin mumbled and blushed, the red color showing his embarrassment, which Trump keenly noticed.

  “I am not a frog, I’ll have you know,” Trump gurgled back.

  Disinterested in the three weird creatures mumbling by its feet, the rock-shelled giant took a few lengthy steps back toward its hibernation spot.

  “Wait!” Cassius called back to the creature, running in front of its path.

  “What on earth are you doing, bounty hunter?” Trump protested.

  Cassius ignored the blustering toad while he attempted to communicate with the giant. “Where are you going?” Cassius asked, looking up to its bulging eyes.

  The rock-shelled creature appeared to understand Cassius perfectly as it pointed to the hillside. “What’s over there?” Another point in the same direction followed an enormous yawn.

  “That’s your home?”

  The creature shook its head in disagreement and yawned again but Cassius couldn’t interpret its body language.

  “He’s telling you he wants to hibernate,” Trump interrupted.

  Cassius turned back to the giant and frowned. “Is that it?”


  The giant simply nodded in agreement.

  “No. You can’t, I mean…don’t you know what’s going on?” Cassius continued, hoping it would listen to him.

  Puzzled by the question, the giant shook its head. Trump gave a long sardonic sigh as Cassius explained to the creature about the dark war in their world, about Abasin’s new false king and his plans to destroy every good and wholesome creature in it.

  Cassius felt bad for the rock-shelled giant. It looked like it hadn’t seen daylight for centuries. The giant stood scratching its head as it thought about what Cassius said.

  “Will you help us?”

  It was most unusual for Cassius to beg for help, but to gain the powerful rock-shelled giant as an ally was too good an opportunity for him to miss. His approach took less time than he’d expected. Even Trump was surprised at how eager the rock-shelled giant was to join them in their adventure.

  “What’s his name?” Benjamin asked.

  Using its index finger, the giant scraped through the soil and drew massive letters in the ground next to them. Cassius and Trump gathered around the boy to look at what the giant had written.

  “Uh…pleased to meet you, Molo.” Benjamin smiled, lifting both hands to shake the creature’s fingertip.

  It was near dark when they gathered up their equipment to cross the foggy fields to the Stained Castle. Cassius led the way into the thick fog, while the rock-shelled giant named Molo strolled steadily behind them, looking out for any dangers that lay ahead.

  22

  Jennings’ Ultimatum

  It was dark and wet inside the grimy cell. The dungeon’s executioners appeared no bigger than four feet tall amidst the gloom. Each pint-sized monster gawked at the prisoner through their red beady eyes and sniffed his human scent using the long, flopping trunks on their tiny faces. Bristly hairs covered their faces, reminding Jennings of the spikes on a porcupine.