by Ritu Ghosh
“How are we ever going to find Alfadon in this wretched place?” said Ony with sadness.
“How are we ever going to get out of here” said Belster in the same tone.
Somebody walked in from behind them “I know where to find Alfadon”
Ony was so startled that he almost toppled off right where he was sitting “Goodness gracious. How did you come inside?” he looked at the small creature who was standing next to him. It was Bo.
“Bo, at your service sir” the Nome said and bowed to them.
“Bo! Where have you been? We didn’t see you after the Lurgs caught us. How did you come in here?” Dan asked.
“When those Lurgs took you, I was really scared, so I hid. Then I heard them speaking about you in the dark prison. I knew that is where they have taken Alfadon. So I followed one of the Sluc Lurgs.” said Bo.
“What are sluc Lurgs?” Belster asked.
“They are the Lurgs who are inferior to the fighter Lurgs. They are smaller and do all the dirty chores here. They are the ones who clean up the bodies after the prisoners die. One sluc came here and I followed it and knocked him down.” said Bo with a grin.
“That means there is a way out of this place?” asked Ony.
“Yes sir” replied Bo.
“But we cannot go without Alfadon” said Dan with concern.
“Don’t worry sir I know how to find him” said Bo and walked down to one of the passages with a red floor. The others followed the Nome curiously.
“Look here sirs, the floor is red. The other floors are blue that means he is here” Bo walked into a corridor and checked all the rooms one by one. Then he stood in front of the room “Look sirs, the rooms are all alike but this one has no furniture” then he pulled out a small box out of his pocket. It had white powder inside it. Something like what Jane used, to reveal the Witch Valley. He blew some powder inside the room through the bars and suddenly they saw an old man tied to a chair with both hands held by chains.
“Alfadon!” cried Ony and stared to bend the iron bars with his hands.
“I knew Mordok had put a vanishing charm on Alfadon, so that nobody even finds him. But Alfadon left clues” Bo said
“Which you picked up, I am very proud of you Bo” said Dan. This made the Nome swell with pride.
Ony uprooted a few more iron bars and broke and bent a few more to get inside. They all rushed inside to save Alfadon.
“Alfadon, Alfadon are you alright?” cried Ony, but Alfadon didn’t budge.
Dan cut of all the chains and ropes with his sword to free Alfadon. But Alfadon collapsed in the chair. Ony supported him.
“What happened to him?” Ony panicked “Why won’t he wake up?”
“I think he has been poisoned sir” said Bo.
“Do you mean he is dead?” asked Ony.
“No, a great wizard like him cannot die by any poison sir” said Bo.
“How do we bring him back?” asked Dan.
Bo scratched his head for a while and said “His staff… his staff has many powers. If we can find his staff we can bring him back”
“Where can we find his staff?” asked Belster.
“We have to look for it; he must have hidden it somewhere before he was poisoned. He would never let Mordok take his staff” said Dan.
“Ony, look after Alfadon, we will be back soon” said Dan. Dan and Belster rushed outside into the passage with Bo.
“Where should we look for it?” Belster asked.
“Look for a clue, it will be something unusual” Bo said and walked towards the open corridor. Dan and Belster went through the other passage, but none of them could find anything unusual.
“Everything looks normal here, except that we are in a prison of the Dark Wizard” said Belster looking pale.
“Wait, what is that?” Dan pointed to a small red spot on the floor.
Chapter 19
Escape from the Dark Prison
“It’s a clue” cheered Bo and ran towards it. He pulled out his box of magic powder again and blew it right on top of the red spot. Out of nowhere, a staff made of wood was visible in front of them, hanging in the mid air. Dan grabbed it and pulled it down. They rushed back to the chamber where Alfadon was imprisoned.
Ony was trying everything to wake Alfadon up.
“We found the staff” said Belster. This brought Ony a great relief.
“What should we do now?” asked Ony.
Everyone watched Bo as he placed the staff in Alfadon’s hands. White flames began to form on top of the staff. The whole staff was soon glowing white and so was Alfadon. They moved away and watched Alfadon in amazement, as he stood up with the staff in his hands. Alfadon opened his eyes and took a deep breath like he was back from the dead. After a few moments, everything came back to normal.
“Alfadon, are you ok?” Ony came forward and hugged Alfadon tight. The old man flinched but tried to smile.
“Yes I am fine Ony and very thankful to all of you. You have saved my life.” Alfadon said.
All of them shook hands with Alfadon and told him all about their journey so far. Dan specially elaborated on how Bo had helped them find Alfadon. Alfadon appreciated Bo and patted him on his head gently.
“What happened Alfadon? How did Mordok get you?” asked Dan.
“Well, Mordok’s powers have become much stronger than I had thought. Now his powers come directly from the Evil Force. We have to stop him at any cost” said Alfadon looking very concerned.
“What happened at the Fairyland?” asked Ony.
“Something very bad. It hurts me to even think about it” Alfadon supported himself on the staff. He looked old, yet strong. “I was there on a very important business. I had learnt that Mordok was up to something big. He had stolen the magic of the Dragons and was planning to use it against the world. So, I wanted to learn more about the Dragons.”
“Stole magic from the Dragons?” exclaimed Ony.
“Yes there are rumors that he has gained magnificent power through Dragon Magic and is using it to conquer the northern kingdoms” said Alfadon looking very grave. “While I was at the Fairyland, having deep conversations and learning the art of Magic of the Dragons from the queen of the Fairyland, a huge army of Lurgs appeared suddenly. Mordok was with them. He had located the hidden Fairyland. He broke the unbreakable protection charms which surround the Fairyland. I do not know how he acquired such powers. We were unprepared. The Lurgs destroyed the beautiful city of Fairyland. I helped many fairies escape, including the fairy queen, but Mordok put a powerful spell on me and I became unconscious. When I woke up I was in this place. I’m just glad that I had made my staff invisible right before I was knocked out. But Mordok took the Sicil stone of Merthyl for which he had come for.” Alfadon said grieving.
“We know about the stone Alfadon, Mordok has already sent to Xandor. The Dark Lord will receive it soon. He told us himself” Dan informed Alfadon.
“That is a very bad news. All this while I thought that Mordok himself wanted to become a powerful wizard. But he is controlled by Zorath and Zorath wants to come back once again in the human form. We have to stop the stone from reaching Zorath” said Alfadon.
“We have to get out of here soon” said Bo. “Before they know we have found Alfadon. Follow me!”
They followed Bo to the secret entrance that he had discovered.
“Careful sirs” said Bo, “There could be Lurgs outside. Let’s be as silent as we can.”
They came to a long passage and walked till the end of it. At the end, there was a wall. Bo hit the wall with all his strength. A small round stone just popped out of the wall. The hole was big enough for them to exit. Bo went out of the hole first to check for Lurgs. He then came back to take the others. One by one, they came out of the hole. They were in a place that looked like a pantry.
“Where do we go from here?” asked Ony in a low voice.
Dan opened the door of the pantry slowly and stepped outside. Then he signaled the o
thers to come out. They were now in another tunnel that ran parallel to the Dark Prison. The passage was poorly lit and no Lurgs were seen. As they walked, they suddenly came face to face with the same Sluc Lurg whom Bo has knocked down before. The Sluc was very surprised to see them as there was nobody in those paths except for Lurgs. For a moment he froze. Ony gave the Sluc a great push and he fell ten feet away. They ran away quickly.
“Prisoners escaping! Catch them!” the Sluc shouted repeatedly till he caught the attention of the guard Lurgs. He was still unable to get up.
Many Lurgs came running towards the Sluc who pointed them to the direction of the fleeing prisoners. Alfadon walked at a great pace. Dan, Ony, Belster and Bo were running through the tunnel. The Lurgs were pouring in from behind them from all directions. They could hear the horns of the Lurgs from everywhere.
“Where are we going?” asked Belster “I cannot see any way out”
“There is one way!” Alfadon pointed his finger to a tiny spec of light coming from the other side of the long passage. Suddenly, a group of Lurgs were right in front of them. One of them was really disfigured and was holding a dangerous looking blade in his hands.
“Nobody gets out once they are in” the ugly Lurg said with his mouth full of decaying teeth.
The Lurgs surrounded them. Dan pulled out this sword. Ony and Belster also were ready to draw their weapons.
“Hold your weapons, brave Defenders” said Alfadon “It’s my turn” saying this he hit the staff hard on the ground and a very bright blue light came out of it. A huge force field accompanied it that swept all the Lurgs off their feet. Dan, Ony, Belster and Bo stood in their places astonished.
“Run, before they regain consciousness” said Alfadon speeding up towards the opening of the tunnel.
Dan ran after Alfadon and Ony, Belster and Bo caught up fast. The Lurgs were fallen and scattered in every direction. They were trying to get up slowly, a few gained balance again and stood up holding onto their heads. The disfigured Lurg pushed away two other Lurgs who were fallen on him and came out of the pile of Lurgs.
“Follow them, they should not go out of this tunnel” said the Lurg and then started to run after them. Many more Lurgs followed him.
Dan was running at a lighting speed, he felt like his legs were going to fall off. The Lurgs were right behind them. Alfadon was still leading them walking fast. Dan, Ony, Belster and Bo were trying to keep up with Alfadon. The opening on the wall began to appear bigger and bigger as they came closer to it. They saw light outside. With one deep breath, they jumped out of the opening and fell onto the grassy grounds below.
Dan looked back as soon as he hit the ground, the others were out of the tunnel too. Next to him, Alfadon was getting up slowly. Ony, Belster and Bo were still fallen on the ground.
Dan got up as soon as he could and stared to run again. He ran towards the forest but stopped as he heard Alfadon’s voice.
“You can stop now, we are safe” Alfadon said.
Dan stopped and looked back, Ony was sweating and panting standing behind Alfadon. Bo was standing still. Belster was taking aim at the Lurgs who stood at the edge of the tunnel screaming and yelling at them. “What happened? Why are the Lurgs not following us?” asked Ony.
“You are forgetting that the Lurgs do not like the sun” smiled Alfadon as he started to walk into the forest.
After catching their breaths for a few moments, Dan, Ony, Belster and Bo followed Alfadon into the forest. They walked for many hours through the long forest paths.
“I need some food and water. Can’t go on like this” said Ony as he sat on a fallen tree trunk.
“You shall have all you want once we reach the palace” said Alfadon smiling.
“Palace? What palace?” asked Ony.
“We have reached the great realm of Arktor” said Alfadon.
“We have reached Arktor?” Ony asked in amazement. “I never knew this is a way to Arktor”
“Neither did I, that’s what makes me wonder why Mordok has made a tunnel that leads here” said Alfadon.
They soon saw the high towers of Arktor. Ony jumped with joy at the sight of the city that he grew up in. They reached the great palace of Arktor where they received a great welcome by king Thodin and the other Giants. They were treated with delicious food and all kinds of luxuries.
Chapter 20
The Krigan’s Lair
With the torch in his hands, Aaron walked inside the Krigan’s lair. Flynn stuck close to Aaron as the darkness made him really nervous. Jane and Sandra walked slowly behind them.
“Stairs!” exclaimed Flynn as he almost fell down.
“Shh… don’t make any sounds” said Aaron.
They walked down the stairs slowly. They had to climb down hundred odd stairs before they came down to the floor again. It was pitch dark and hard to breath.
They heard a hissing sound right above them.
“What do you think it was?” asked Flynn clutching Sandra’s arms. Sandra flinched but Flynn didn’t notice.
“I don’t know, we have to keep walking” said Aaron and grabbed Jane’s hands and made her walk beside him.
Flynn realized that he was alone with Sandra for the first time without her arrogant father to boss him around. He held on to Sandra’s hand, she didn’t say much as she herself was quite scared. They walked closely for a few feet.
Something sticky caught Flynn’s legs.
“What is that?” he jumped back.
“Stay still” Jane said and took the torch from Aaron’s hands to take a better look at Flynn’s feet.
“Spider webs!” she said and then in the torch’s light, she looked all around her “There were spider webs everywhere”
“Ah!” screamed Sandra suddenly, she looked terrified.
“What wrong Sandra?” Jane asked immediately.
Sandra pointed to something at a distance. They saw something white and shiny in the corner.
“Oh my god, human bones and skulls” Jane said with a gasp.
Flynn almost fainted but Sandra caught him from falling.
“This doesn’t look good” Sandra said balancing herself. “I am not sure if we should even be here”
“We have to find Brandon and get out of here” Aaron said taking the torch back from Jane.
Flynn came back to his senses but still pretended that he needed Sandra’s shoulders.
There was a trail of human bones everywhere. As they walked, Aaron’s hopes of finding Brandon alive started to fade.
Something moved suddenly behind them and made the same hissing sound.
“What… was that?” Aaron asked turning back quickly with the torch to see.
“You think that was the Krigan?” asked Flynn who was now standing frozen. “Aaron, I do not want to die...”
“You won’t die Flynn” whispered Aaron and walked on. The path took many abrupt turns, but the stench never left them.
“There‘s no end to this place, how are we ever going to find Brandon?” said Jane in frustration.
With a loud thud, something big landed in front of them. Aaron lifted his torch to see what it was. A giant hairy spider with eight pairs of green eyes was in front of them, staring them down.
They screamed together till their lungs gave out. Aaron dropped the torch and all of them ran in the opposite direction.
After running for a few minutes, they stopped. The Krigan did not follow them. It was nowhere. They held their breaths and waited. There was no hiss or movement. They finally took deep breaths in relief.
Suddenly, Sandra held Flynn’s left arm, her eyes widened.
“My legs. Aahhh….” she cried. She fell down and was being dragged on the floor.
“Nooo…..” screamed Flynn and ran after her.
“No Flynn. Wait” Aaron and Jane ran after Flynn.
Sandra was gone in a blink of a second. She disappeared into the darkness. Flynn couldn’t see her anymore.
“We have to save her” he
said panicking.
“We will Flynn” said Aaron. “But we have to stay together” They walked into the dark passage.
“There are some chambers there, see!” Jane pointed.
“Let’s look inside them” Aaron said and went inside the biggest chamber. More human bones were piled up in a corner.
“Awful” said Flynn “Let’s get out of here”
“What’s this?” Aaron said as he reached for a white smooth rock on the floor. “This is just like what Brandon used to collect. I think he is nearby. We have to find him” saying that, he entered another chamber attached to the big chamber. Jane and Flynn followed him. As they entered the smaller chamber, the door closed behind them. A hissing sound came from the outside “Food.. more food…”it said.
Flynn ran back to the door and desperately tried to open it. “We are struck here forever” he was almost in tears. “The Krigan is going to eat us!”
“There has to be some way out of here” said Jane. She climbed up the wall to look through a small window on the top.
While Jane was trying to find a way to escape and Flynn was sitting down with his face buried in his hands; Aaron saw some more smooth rocks on the floor.
“There are more rocks here, Brandon was here” he started to follow the trails of the pebbles and reached a smaller passage with a curtain at the end.
‘It looks like some abandoned underground house’ he thought to himself and walked towards the curtain. With a rip, he pulled the curtain aside. It was dark inside, but he thought he saw somebody sitting on a small chair in the middle.
Suddenly, he was hit on his chest with something heavy. And then a few more hits. Aaron backed off and fell on the floor. “Ouch…” He said loudly.
He looked up as a small figure was standing near the curtain. Aaron narrowed his eyes to see clearly. Brandon was standing there scared, but something unusual was going on around him. The stones were moving in circles around him at a great speed.
“Brandon?!” said Aaron holding onto his chest.
